


Arcana Imperii

by Anitzei_Pendragon



Series: Inazuma Eleven - OC centric [1]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin, Inazuma Eleven: Orion no Kokuin
Genre: Accidental Child Acquisition, Bisexual Characters, Car Accidents, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Genda Koujirou has an older brother, Haizaki Ryouhei is Bad at Feelings, Inamori Asuto needs actual maps, Kazemaru Ichirouta is a Florist, Lesbian Marriage, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Multi, Nosaka Yuuma is a Good Friend, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Reincarnation, Slight Family Dynamics, Spirit Animals, Spirit Guardians, Temporary Character Death, Trans Male Character, Urabe Rika/Zaizen Touko Relationship Goals, loss of hearing, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 42,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25222381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anitzei_Pendragon/pseuds/Anitzei_Pendragon
Summary: Two worlds, separated by a thin veil, accidentally clash and merge. A third stays in the shadows, forgotten to those that have not lived on it.Power hides behind secrets long forgotten by some. And courses through the veins of the chosen ones.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Urabe Rika/Zaizen Touko
Series: Inazuma Eleven - OC centric [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878889
Kudos: 4





	1. Dictum meum pactum

**Author's Note:**

> I will be taking down Suijin and Kaminari. Not because I'm not writing them anymore. Because I'm merging them into this book. I shall put this on a separate note on both fics.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My word is my bond."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, instead of meeting Suijin, Yukine meets Father Time. Also, by herself, Yukine will be referred to with male pronouns.

"Came into this world kickin' an' screamin', covered in someone else's blood. 'm goin' out the same way."

Yukine wonders for a moment if he sealed his fate when he said that. More of cursed it rather than sealing it, but whatever. Details, really.

Still, he takes a moment to mentally curse his fourteen-year-old self. Mostly because he _can_ , rather than he has to.

Slamming his right fist in the ground just as the referee was at two, Yukine spits out the saliva in his mouth somewhere to his right. By the iron-like taste in his mouth, it's easy to figure it wasn't just saliva.

By four, he's standing - shakily, but still. While Yukine raises his arms in a rather pathetic guard, his opponent snorts. He just snarls back, though more pitifully.

Thoughts of <What now? What now?> fill his brain like poison. And he shoves them back. More of kicks them out of his mind. A moment while he and the bastard he's fighting circle each other, his eyes widen for a fraction.

Only enough to give away that Yukine's distracted. And that's enough for the guy to take a swing at him. Dodging to the side, he easily slips in a kicking stance.

Almost too easily. Maybe it was Subaru-san's influence on him, or his own need to learn any self-defense that he could. He's not sure.

_Nor does he particularly care much._

Moving quickly, Yukine pivots on his right foot, turning his body to the left. Looking over his left shoulder, just a quick glace really, he thrusts his foot back. The sudden movement is enough to throw his adversary off.

And that is all that Yukine needs. It's not nearly as hard as it used to be to gain that circular momentum. He snaps the kick when he's about two inches away from the guy's skull.

Mentally wincing a bit, Yukine slams the back of his heel in the guy's skull. He feels his heel warm and sticky. The wraps covering the bandages on his foot are bloodied. As are the ones covering his knuckles.

A quick punch to the face, and the brute falls to the ground. Unmoving, looking very much knocked out. The referee calls K.O. and Yukine jumps over the ropes and starts untying his foot wraps.

Wincing while rubbing his heel. He's two moments too late to notice the ticking over the cheering of the crowd.

Two moments and then there's a quick pain. Then nothing.

He did not go down kicking and screaming. Yukine went down covered in someone else's blood, and after shouting and kicking.

Yukine went down with a single thought of his husband, his Triad and his friends.

~<>~

A soft breeze. It registers rather quickly, maybe too quickly. He's not completely sure. A soft, salty scent reminds him of the ocean. The Black Sea...

Yukine misses it there. The Golden Sands in Varna especially. Maybe he's a bit bias. Because that's where he got proposed to... Just after dusk, when it got a bit colder. And he kinda froze there for five minutes.

"That you did."

A muted yelp escapes him while he jumps, hands pushing up by his sides. <So glad I was face down.> Looking at the man that spoke, he blinks.

A short, white-bearded old man stares at him from under fluffy snowy-white eyebrows. Yukine is not tall. He's shorter than Shirou, after all. Still, this man is shorter than _him_.

The hourglass hanging around the man's neck drew his attention. Golden sand inside. And so does the scythe in the old man's hand.

"Hello, little one."

The man's voice is soft, but carried power. It reminded him of Lina's. Always soft-spoken but could silence people with two words without even shouting.

Yukine simply nods. Tries to relax his stance. Nods again, brow slightly furrowed. Doesn't open his mouth. Nothing would come out anyway. He starts - slowly - making signs with his hands.

\- hello - he signs and hopes against hope that the old man understands. Not many people learn sign language. And even less find it useful. But, then again. He's dead, so it's not like he particularly cares much about that.

The old man nods, a twinkle in his eyes while they wrinkle around the edges when he smiles. "Hello again. And yes, you have died."

Yukine blinks, eyes wide for a moment before signing again. - how -

The "how" wasn't reserved for 'how did the man know what he's thinking' it is also for 'how did I die'. While not sure if he actually wants to know, it couldn't hurt now.

"I hear everything in time, young one," the old man nods again, the same twinkle in his eyes. "And I am not sure you want to know the answer to that, young Yukine."

He tilts his head, much like a bird. Heart beating faster, he signs, a passive-intrigue in his eyes.

\- I do -

A soft sigh from the old man. "An explosion."

While Yukine isn't that much of an optimist. More of a pessimist or realist. But there are times when one must see the half-full glass of water. And he does.

\- could have been worse -

The old man nods. "True. It could have been."

When the older didn't continue, Yukine sits back on the ground. Crosses his legs and looks up at the short elder. Yup, better. He's never been used to looking down at people. Except Yuuya.

The twenty-one-year-old looks at the old man before signing.

\- where am I -

Grey eyes twinkle again as wrinkles show above the man's beard. "Where do you want to be?"

Yukine tilts his head again before signing letter by letter:

\- Varna, Golden Sands -

A soft huff before the old man softly taps the ground with the bottom of his scythe. The abyss fades into an evening sky, the sun just centimeters from sundown beyond the sea. Yukine gets up and spreads his arms wide, feeling the familiar breeze of the sea, the salty scent. The feeling of the water. The currents. <Must be summer> he thinks at the soft currents make contact with his bare feet.

With some morbid curiosity, Yukine scans his arms. No scars. No long, thin lines. No thousands of tiny white lines that stand out against his skin.

"You like it here," the old man notes while standing beside him, though the water doesn't touch.

Yukine nods smile curling on his lips.

"There is someone I know that likes you."

Yukine glances at the elder, lowering his arms.

"Actually, a couple of someones. They do not wish for you to die," the old man mentions while fidgeting with the hourglass. "To one of them, I owe a favor. He was rather glad to use it."

\- what favor - he walks in front of the elder before signing.

"For you to live again."

Yukine tilts his head. - what is the catch - he signs slowly, a bit uncertain.

"You shall be alive. But in a different world," the old man looks almost remorseful about that. "Still, one similar to yours," the grip on the scythe tightens. "But also very different."

Yukine nods, eyes still wide and curious. - that is fine I wish to live - he signs. - I do not care much for details -

The old man chuckles. "Well, then," gently taking Yukine's right hand, the elder mumbles something while covering his palm. "When all the sand in the top bulb of the hourglass is all but gone into the bottom one, your time is very close to run out."

Yukine feels a slightly warm sensation. As though he touched a hot pot. Yukine doesn't pull his hand away though, it's only a stinging sensation on his burned palm.

Everything from the evening sun to the beach to the sea fade into darkness. Eyes blinking, he catches sight of the old man.

\- who are you -

A chuckle, kind, soft. "I am Time."

Yukine blinks a couple of times, eyes still trying to adjust. He signs - Father Time -

The old man nods. "We shall talk again, young Yukine. When your time runs out again."

Yukine is quick to sign a 'why'.

"Because my word is my bond."

Then, Yukine feels a soft press against her forehead, when the old man taps her temple. Then, everything does black again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this: please comment & leave kudos if you want. :)


	2. Dum vita est, spes est

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'while there is life, there is hope,'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By herself, Lina will be referred to with they/them pronouns. Because I want to. I also decided to bring down Kaminari and Suijin when I cover everything in this story. Things will probably get repetitive, so apologies in advance.
> 
> I had a chat with a friend over this, they agreed that Lin is harder to kill than what I made her out to be in Kaminari.

"Se-"

A couching fit cuts them off. It comes from them. Lina can tell by the aggravated feeling in their throat, and the constriction in their lungs. ' _Breathe_ ' a somewhat sleepy voice orders in their head. It's a rather painful feat to nod - even once - while getting their breathing under control.

At some point, they notice the soft-ish fabric of the airbag. ' _Ya crashed_ ' the voice notes. <Tell me something I don't fucking know.> They mentally snap and the voice goes silent.

Ignoring the protests that their stubborn-ass brain gives, Lina forced their eyes open. And it's strangely difficult to do so. Usually, they would have growled at the delay. Blinking a few times - twelve - Lina registers that they aren't laying on something. They're sitting. On the passenger seat if Lina's memory isn't too foggy.

They remember Anna-chan screaming to look out. Then they crashed. There's something digging into their left shoulder. Seat belt. Then Lina notices the utter silence around them.

Slowing their breathing, and heart rate until it's no long skyrocketing, Lina focuses on their hearing.

_Birds outside of the car. The soft rustling of leaves caused by steps tiny steps. Squirrel or raccoon...? Squirrel._

_The engine is smashed, it's smoking. Keeps the animals away from the oil leaking from the back._

_No electricity works. Everything is damaged. Wires pulled far enough for one another to not spark and cause a wildfire._

_No breathing inside the car. No heartbeats._

Lina waits for ten, then twenty then thirty seconds before exhaling. <Dead...>

It would explain the hollowness inside their chest. Lina pushes it away <survival for the survivors>.

Slowly, Lina twitches their right hand. Slowly, carefully. They wince at the pain. Maybe twelve cracked bones, had worse. Slowly twitching their forearm, Lina hisses. And almost coughs again.

Their throat is dry and they wonder if their lips are bleeding from how cracked they feel. They ignore that in favor of carefully moving their hand while thinking over how they got into this situation. Lina leans their head back against their seat, trying to ignore the smoky scent around them.

Lina was in Anna-chan's car. Anna-chan was in the back, because Sein was driving.

They... They were heading to the Titanic Stadium. Their upper arm twitches when they start moving their fingers off the seat.

Little Giant versus Inazuma Eleven would have been the final match of the FFI again. Three tournaments in a row. They know that Songbird would have enjoyed seeing all of their generation as coaches. Lina knows they did.

And they were on their way there. Except they never made it out into the main city.

There's a short-lived burst of joy when they finally move their arm. Violently pushing the airbag away from them, Lina focuses on their energy. Reaches for the endless pool in their being.

Lightning crackles for a bit in their heart. Heartbeat spikes and Lina looks to see all of their veins glowing against their skin. A soft blue. Take a deep breath leaves them breathless for a second.

Focusing on releasing the seatbelt, Lina sends a quick shock into her fingertips. Just quick enough to make the seatbelt work again. Rather violently pushing the button, Lina throws it out of her way to massage her left shoulder for a second, before deeming it functional.

Lifting their left elbow, Lina slams it into the window, shattering the already cracked glass. Only wincing a bit, Lina ignores the glass shards remaining and opens the door from the outside.

They tumble out of the car. Laying on the grass for a bit, Lina finally finds the strength to crawl over to the backseat door. Which they pull open, only to hurriedly catch Anna-chan.

' _Mikado's body, ya mean_ ' the voice sneers almost bored.

Lina nods again, their throat and chest constricting while they take note of the unusual angle Anna-chan's neck is bend. They steel though, gently pulling all of Anna-chan's body out of the car before just as gently putting it on the grass.

A soft prayer, and Lina uses the door as support to get on their feet. Slowly moving around the car, Lina takes one look at Sein and feels cold tears tracks on their cheeks.

"You should have died too, you know?"

A cold voice speaks, and Lina rolls their eyes. It seems to be around their age, mid-twenties to early-thirties. Frosty, without a hit of kindness. Feminine though. No humanity... A smirk slowly lifts their lips while they turn around, leaned against the car, and slid down on it. By the metallic scent that follows, Lina figures that they must be bleeding.

A neigh and Lina slowly looks up. "That's one bony-ass horse," they almost spit out, before gulping their saliva to try and wet their throat. "Like the color though," they nod at the pure black.

The horse stomps a hove while their owner snorts, also snorting. The horse isn't skinny by any means, no Shire horse ever is. Unless it belongs to some bastards. It's, in all honesty, a fucking beauty.

Still... Lina can't make out much about the rider. Except that they're female, and are dressed in a full, black rider outfit. Paired with a hooded cloak.

Lina tilts their head, a smirk curling on their lips. "I'm not that easy to kill, darling," they shrug with a shoulder, while returning the figure's previous statement.

A narrow of the eyes. Lina doesn't need to actually see to know. It only serves to widen their grin, which turns nonchalant. A smug look overtakes their face, mostly because fuck they're numb.

"So? Who," their eyes turn cold, "would be as cold as to leave a dying person in the woods?"

A tilted head and the horse stomps its - his if Lina's correct - hove again. "Someone who has seen people die since the beginning of time."

With the same nonchalant attitude, Lina smirks. "Well, I feel honored. I guess most people don't actually get to meet a Grim Reaper, right? What with all of them being dead."

The person finally pushes back their hood. Piercing blue eyes stared into her teal ones. Raven hair, which would appear long but Lina's not sure. Cold, calculate, _ancient_ wisdom shining in those blue eyes.

"Oh, please," the Reaper scoffs. "I am no mere Reaper. So do not treat me as such."

Lina watches as they - _she_ \- crosses her arms over her chest, huffs and turns away. "Well, then I should be even more honored. Who can say they've met the Pale Horseman, Death? Wait, if you're Death, why isn't your horse like, grey or something like that?"

A thunderous growl while the horse neighs and lifts up on his hind legs, front hoves moving threateningly. As if Lina hasn't ever been run over by a horse before. A quick pull on the reigns, and a hiss and the horse puts his hoves far enough for Lina to not worry about it.

"You will have no such choice. Because you shan't see the light of day again."

A quick wave of her hand, and Lina gulps as the reigns of the horse turn into a scythe. "That's pretty neat, Lady Death."

Lady Death sighs while Lina admires the scythe. Looking up at the original Reaper, Lina almost chuckles as she facepalms. "I forgot about your death-wish."

Lina shrugs. "It's not that obvious if you're not actively looking for it," they smirk and reach out a hand - left hand - to lightly trace the steel-looking blade. "How does one become a Reaper?"

It's an interesting question that popped up in their mind about thirty seconds ago. Blue eyes blink at them. "They commit suicide and are punished for their deed."

Lina nods. "So, if I were to slash my throat right now..." their left hand leaves the scythe to blindly search for a glass shard from Sein's shattered window. "With a, let's say glass shard, I would become a Reaper."

Lady Death's eyes narrow and glow for a bit. "Yes, that it is how it works. But you are to die, not kill yourself. You shall not hinder me by killing yourself."

"Which puts you in a bit of a difficult spot, doesn't it?" they raise the glass shard and press the sharp end into the soft skin of their neck; it bleeds and the scythe pushes just below their chin. "Now, now. I have no intention of dying. Suicide, on the other hand, sounds much more... appealing, so to say."

The scythe turns into reigns again. "You don't wish to die. But you would commit suicide and be doomed to a life of damnation."

Lina shrugs. "Yup, that sounds about right. Either way, I get to live as a Reaper and you, don't do your job."

Another thunderous growl. "What do you want?"

"To live," Lina simply answers.

A snort. "You are to die. Not continue this miserable human life or start a new one as a Reaper," a snarl.

Another shrug on their part. "This life? Can I have another? Because I would like that. As _me_ , with _my_ memories."

Another growl, this one softer before Lady Death sighs. "There is a version of you that died, but wasn't supposed to. I can take that soul in exchange for yours," Lina brightens somewhat. "But!" a snarl at which they wince. "You shall live their life, as they would have. One wrong move and I shall come collect your soul myself."

Lina nods, slowly lowering the glass shard from her neck and letting it fall out of her hand. Which had turned cold from the cuts made by the glass. Blood freely flowed from the cuts.

"So. Guess it's true..."

Lina blinks while spots blur their vision. "What is?"

Lady Death huffs and the reigns turn back into a scythe, which this time, Lady Death grabs and spins in her hand. "An old friend used to say: 'while there is life, there is hope'."

They hum, tilting their head back against the car. "Well, they are right."

Lady Death nods and raises her scythe. "Now, I shall reap you. And take you there. And do not forget, I shall be watching. You better not make reckless mistakes, Lina Kruger."

They give another shrug while closing their eyes. "One can only hope, huh?"

Lina thanks all the Gods they can think of when the slash comes. Because it's quick, and Lina doesn't feel anything other than a shiver. Then it's quiet and dark.

"I sincerely hope you enjoy your new life... _Old friend_."

A part of them throbs at that, and Lina is uncertain as to _why_. They forget about it pretty quickly, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this; please comment & leave kudos if you want. :)


	3. Post Mortem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's still trying to get used to the fact that he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The literal meaning of the title is: The light under the cross, referring to figurative 'light of learning' and the actual constellation of the Southern Cross.
> 
> Also, am I the only one that does a mini victory dance when the number of views one of my books has reaches a double-digit?

Reina wakes up Kuro tiptoe-ing out of the room. Which is weird, cause Kuro usually sleeps in no matter what Reina does to wake her up. Glancing at the digital clock that they got from Kira-san, Reina literally throws her feet off the bed, pulling the very thin blanket with her.

She exaggerates a wince while a floorboard creaks loudly. An exasperated whine from the bed above hers lifts up the corners of her mouth. But Reina proceeds to sneak out of the room, a loud snore from Fumiko making her giggle quietly into her hand.

Say what you will about Kuro's - inexisting - humor, but the red-eyed girl is right. Reina is a bloodhound. Mostly because she can see 'scents' in the air. It took her a while to get the hang of it, mostly confusing the old scents with new ones, mostly cause at the beginning, she could only actually smell them. At some point, she started actually seeing the scents. After that, it got so much easier.

Reina is currently following the sea-scented smell that belongs to Kuro. The fresh one, not the older, stale ones. It's brighter. A soft dark-blue that is kinda wavy.

She finally catches up to Kuro when the other girl is walking out and Reina is too intrigued to actually call out to Kuro. Seeing as her eyes are particularly sucky today, Reina sniffs the air a couple of times. Trying to actually make something out. Her hearing sharpens until she hears the soft paddle of Kuro's feet. And she follows feet more silent than Kuro's.

More delicate, stalking after the poor lamb that is her friend. Mostly because she can be considered an actual lamb. What with the wool vest that Kuro always wears. And has about four, all in different colors. Reina knows that the one Kuro is currently wearing is the white wool one.

'It's got a distinct scent, okay?!' Reina had raged at Haruya when the tulip-headed idiot asked about it. It-It doesn't actually have the same scent as Kuro. It's more like... the air after a rain. Clean, pure.

Reina almost smacks herself when Kuro stops. <Head in the game!> She immediately covers her nose with the thin blanket to avoid coughing when she takes a deep breath to regain her center.

<What's that smell...?>

Still holding the linen to her nose, Reina's vision burns a bit when she takes a deep breath through the blanket. <Rotten...> The scent comes from all around her, lifting from the ground into the open skies.

"Hey, Kuro..." Reina hesitantly calls out and hears the whip-sound made by Kuro's hair while the other girl swirls around. "Where are we?"

She shivers under the thin blanket, not from the cold, but from the feeling she gets. A twig snaps under Kuro's foot while the brunette - that's what Hitomiko-ane-san said it's called - paddles over to her. A hand touches Reina's left shoulder and she jumps, spooked. Gulping, she lets Kuro guide her.

Taking another sniff of the air, Reina notices the slightly flowery scent in the air. "Hyacinth?" for a moment she rams through her head to remember their color meanings. "What color is it?"

She's surprised by how dull Kuro sounds and scrunches up her nose at the sour scent. "Purple."

Reina stiffens. 'Purple hyacinth means someone's very sorry' Fumiko had mumbles while planting it in one of the pots.

"In cemetery," Kuro mutters loud enough for Reina to hear.

Tilting her head, Reina inquires, "Why?"

A shrug and they come to a stop. She takes an experimental sniff of the air before lowering her linen. Fresh air, like after a summer rain. Reina inhales deeply through her nose before breathing out her mouth.

"'s my baby bro's," Kuro looks at something on the ground.

<Probably the gravestone...> Reina shakes her head and inhales deeply again, closing her eyes before opening them when she exhales.

Blinking to take everything into view, Reina slowly walks around the actual grave. It's easy to tell where the actual grave is, because the scent comes from it. So, Reina just walks around the source of the scent. And drags her feet to avoid actually stepping on the grave.

Kneeling on the side of the stone, she traces the gravestone carefully. And listens carefully to hear more paddling when Kuro follows her. The stone itself is smooth, not very bumpy. Reina inhales a bit while trying to focus on her vision. Blurred images become clearer after she blinks a couple of times.

Still, she traces the writing on the tombstone. Trying to zooming in her vision, looking at the slightly familiar writing. It's rougher around the edges than what Reina is used to. Less loopy and curvier and it's somewhat similar to Kuro's current handwriting.

"Did you write it?" Reina lets out, still focused on the stone.

She feels a gently brush against her side while Kuro kneels beside her. She hears the soft flutter of pedals and leaves touching the hard stone. "Aye."

Kuro keeps quiet after that and Reina takes that as an invitation to actually focus on reading the writing:

'Here lies Kurosaki Shun. Beloved son, twin, grandson.'

At the bottom of the stone was a message... Not hiragana or katakana, not even kanji... English. "What does it say?" Reina asks in curiosity. "Sorry!" she almost exclaims. "That was rude..."

A shrug. "'s fine. 'Love is holding on to the memories only the heart remembers.' Quote my baby bro liked."

Reina nods and mutters a prayer for the lost soul. Thing she isn't sure about, is which soul. Kuro's or her twin's? Maybe both. Both sounds good. <Please rest,> she thinks while trying to picture Kurosaki Shun, holding her hands in prayer and lowering her head. <I know I never met you. But we'll watch Kuro. She's our friend.>

And a gust of wind blows her hair. A whisper of a better future and Reina laughs while pulling up her sad friend, smiling brightly. The sour scent around Kuro lessens somewhat while the other girl pulls her by the hand out of the cemetery.

Later, Reina would have wished that they had just walked in through the window of Ryuuji's room. Would have been better than walking back covered in mud when Hitomiko-ane-san is visiting.

~<>~

Yukine stares at his arms and body for a long time. It's so... young and untrained. No half-moon scratches from his nails on his forearms. No tiny million cuts on his fingers from failed attempts at cutting things. Or simply his morbid curiosity of a new sharp kitchen knife. On the other hand, the hourglass on his right palm is interesting.

It doesn't look like any of the sand in the top bulb has fallen into the bottom one. He shrugs that off.

It's still weird, for some part of his brain at least. To refer to himself as 'he'. At which Yukine has to admit, it's fair. He highly doubts he used to identify as a 'he' while at age six. By his count, he only started after meeting Lina. That thought leaves a quick constriction in his chest. He pushes it away while turning on the showerhead.

Stiffening a yelp, Yukine immediately shuts the thing off and mentally curses. "Owwww..." rubbing his right arm, Yukine winces.

He's been feeling hot, for the lack of a better word. Actually, feverish might be better. Yup, feverish. He hadn't really thought it through before putting the water at it's coldest. Not that he's ever thought about it twice before, ever.

Moving to the side in the shower cabin, Yukine turns on the water again. Just as cold as before. More carefully, he puts his left arm under the gentle - but freezing - drizzle, Yukine bites his lower lip until he tastes the iron in his blood. The skin reddens everywhere expect his palm. The skin there is white, 'Scar tissue~!' a voice sings.

Yukine recognizes it. His other palm is the same. If he's not wrong, he used to pull things off the oven or anywhere hot since he was four. His 'mother' never cared enough not to tell her no. Neither did his father. His palms had more 'superficial partial thickness burns' than most had by the time they died.

Then again, Yukine is trying to get used to the idea that he _died_. And it was quick, forgettable, and less traumatizing than he would have thought. He looks back at his arm, which is now very much numb. Pulling the limb close to his face at actually analyze it, he notices the tiny, million white freckle-like spots on his skin.

"Jus' go with the flow," he mumbles under his breath before stepping into the drizzle. "Mother of...!!" he yelps and accidentally bites his tongue, slipping in the process.

"Kuro!" Rei-chan's voice sounds from outside the shower cabin. "You okay?"

With his tongue out, Yukine manages a 'fine' and he can literally hear the pout Rei-chan is giving. But eventually hears the click of the door closing. Letting out a breath, he grimaces at how his body looks now. Under the cold water. More white freckles appear on his entire left side, until it's hard to tell them apart. He wonders how his face looks like. Hopefully not too bad.

He shrugs. Half of his body is white, mostly from what looks like bad burns. Sighing, Yukine mentally curses how long he spends rinsing his hair. <Why is it so long?!> Then he remembers how much he was still holding on to what his 'parents' used to say.

A while later, after drying his hair, Yukine looks in the mirror and facepalms. The white freckles aren't that noticeable, mostly blending in with his too-pale complexion. Which is good, actually, better than good. Because Yukine has never gotten a tan or sunburn in his life. Even after spending so much on the field and in the sun. But, apparently, he now had to deal with makeup. 

Which is horrible because the most Yukine ever put on his face has been forced by Lina. And that was to cover a black eye. Opening the medical cabin, he almost smiles at the ton of bandages on the shelves.

Pulling one of the rolls, Yukine skips out of the bathroom, only a thin t-shirt that is probably Yuu's on him. Taking a deep breath, he walks into the common room, and Fuusuke glances at him for a moment.

"You washed," Aneki nods, sounding pleased. "Good."

Yukine shrugs before walking up to the table in the middle of the room and scribbling something on a white paper before rather violently thrusting the paper at Aneki. His left hand shakes while holding the pencil and he wonders if the writing is understandable.

\- _cut my hair, please_ \- he pouts while looking at the table, his cheeks getting warmer the longer the silence stretches on. Everyone is curious. And then Aneki starts chuckling and Yukine glances through his bangs at the Kira. An embarrassed blush rises to his cheeks while everyone looks at him.

He's puffing out his cheeks by the time Aneki stops chuckling. "Of course, I'll cut your hair."

Yukine takes a double-take, looking at the woman with wide eyes before nodding. He takes the paper back and scribbles some more.

\- _short. real short. no buzzcut. short_ \- and Yukine wonders for the million time, why in the name of freaking emperor penguins is he still alive?

Still, by the end of the day, Yukine has a new hair cut. And he thinks of keeping it for a while.

Though, looking in the mirror, he wonders why Aki-chin chose to grow that mane. Yukine's head feels so much lighter with his. Because that's what it would have ended up being if he was supposed to take care of it, a freaking mane that could rival Kou's.

Thankfully, Aneki hadn't been the one to make his hair. Hiroto-chin was, mostly out of fear for what his sister might do.

"So?" the heir of Kira lifts an impassive eyebrow, but Yukine knows better.

Hiroto-chin is tense, and tapping his finger on his arm too quickly. Yukine nods while still looking in the mirror. "'s great. Ta, Hiroto-chin," a soft smile on his lips while glancing at the Kira in the mirror.

A self-satisfied smile plays on his friend's lips while he tilts his head and closes his eyes. Yukine huffs a bit before yawning.

The undercut pixie cut that Hiroto-chin choose had a somewhat faux hawk look to it. The shaved sides had a high fade, and somehow, he actually looks good with it. And yes, Yukine is keeping the hair cut for a while.

"'ey..." he speaks up and sees Hiroto-chin glance at him again, another raised eyebrow. "'s Lina visiting?"

The grey-haired Kira seems to do double-take. "Who now?"

Yukine blinks in surprise at the utterly confused and slightly snappish tone. He lifts his arms in a shrug. "Doesn't matter. So, how was..."

Later, he would regret not questioning anyone properly when Lina doesn't drop by Ohisama En. And then all of his chances to sink at the bottom of the ocean when he's adopted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this; please comment and leave kudos if you want. :)


	4. Audi, vide, tace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Hear, see, be silent' had been a somewhat of a guideline of Lina's, and it's almost terrifying that that might change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Mitsuko then Genda and Lin for a bit at the end. Also, I kinda gave Genda an older brother. You know, for plot convenience.

Mitsuko is vaguely concerned. Nor for herself. But for her fiance. Her fiance that looks like she might shoot someone point-blank in the head. And kinda bad side? Mitsuko has seen her do that to five people long before they started going out. Has known how many self-defense and no-other-choice kills the other woman has, yet...

"Whoever created cars be fucked..."

The sharp growling and the dark mumble snaps Mitsuko out of it. Looking up at Arashi, she is slightly surprised that her fiance isn't either crashing her phone in her palm or hurling it at a wall.

And she's even more surprised by the curse that Arashi lets out. One would believe being the daughter of the old Keisatsu-chou Choukan* would make Arashi any less of a street-rat (in Arashi's own words). It only manages to succeed unless one looks underneath the cold, stone-hearted appearance that the woman has.

(A.N.: _Keisatsu-chō Chōkan_ is the chief of the national police agency in Japan, meaning something along the lines of 'General Commissioner'. But, please correct me if I'm wrong, I only took from Wikipedia.)

Still, whatever the call had been about, Mitsuko doesn't need to have a degree in physiology to know that it unsettled her fiance. And say what you will about the very bat temper everyone in their family has, Arashi knows how no to show it. Which worries Mitsuko to no end on most days, but she's far more worried about it showing.

Mitsuko is not hesitant to gently put her hand on Arashi's shoulder. Another snarl from her fiance rips through the silence. And it's followed by a sigh, and the storm calms. Somewhat.

"Who was it, Arashi?" She gently coaxes, slowly turning her fiance to face her.

She's startled by the sight of her fiance's face. Amber eyes starring everywhere but her face. Gently - and mostly hesitantly - Mitsuko caresses Arashi's soft - but cold cheek. A flash of red shows through the amber when they finally meet her own.

So, Mitsuko tries again. "Did something happen? You can tell me, Arashi."

A rumble, more like a purr than anything cracks Mitsuko up while Arashi holds her palm and noses it. "You are splendid at making a woman calm down, Mitsu."

Snorting into her fist, amber eyes falter for a second when she looks back at her fiance. "Spill it. Don't think you can romance me into forgetting it."

Arashi sighs, turning her head to the side, looking at Mitsuko out of the corner of her eye. "Lina..." Arashi takes a deep breath and her voice cracks. "And Taiyou have been admitted to the hospital. Mirai and Ryuuji are dead."

Mitsuko should have been more careful. So much more careful. She should have known better than to talk in the kitchen where anyone could walk in.

"What...?"

She feels Arashi going ridged under her palm, feels her jaw lock. Slowly turning around, Mitsuko winces in the bottom of her heart at the shattered look on Koujirou's face. A quick glance at Arashi tells her that the woman is as stiff as a board.

Still, Mitsuko had been surprised that he managed to sneak up on Arashi. Had her fiance been so distraught as to not notice the nephew of said people? Then again, Koujirou has always been too silent for a child. It's not something rare to lose the boy somewhere. Thankfully, Rin is more than able to find him.

She slips out of the kitchen when Arashi cautiously keels in front of the tiny panther. Mitsuko really doesn't need to see that, or hear it. As great as her fiance is on the field - or her office - talking really isn't the other woman's strong point. Or emotions in general for that matter.

"You kids get dressed," Mitsuko somewhat orders when she walks into the living room.

Jirou looks up from his puzzle to glance out the window. "But it's raining!" he whining while Ryouhei simply huffs and starts getting dressed.

"That's what cars are for, Jirou," she answers. "There was an accident," she begins and the cyan-haired boy jerks, head snapping to her. "Rin and Taiyou are in the hospital... Taiyou is now an orphan," she doesn't _want_ to explain it.

But, they understand. Ryouhei nods, turning a shade paler. Jirou looks too green for it to be healthy while putting on a jacket. Mitsuko sighs while putting on her coat.

Jirou reaches a fist for her hand, tugging at the sleeve of the dress shirt Mitsuko is wearing, before she can shove her hand in the coat.

The older boy avoids her gaze, looking at the ground. "Are they okay?" his voice is hesitant.

She gulps, doesn't have the heart to lie to him. "They will be," she gently pats his head as Ryouhei joins them in the hallway.

Her boy still looks a bit under the weather. "They have to be fine," the grey-haired boy glowers at the ground like it wronged him.

Mitsuko nods, a thoughtful hum escaping her. "That they do."

Both boys nod, expressions clouded. Arashi walks by her, slowly squeezing her hand on the way to the door. In the car, Mitsuko gets a better view of Jirou's face. It's sour, pulled into a scowl like he ate a lemon or something. Ryouhei looks like he might want to say something, but he doesn't so she doesn't comment on it.

Whereas Koujirou looks like started pulling himself together - even if just a little - Jirou looks more shattered than he did when he found out. Mitsuko vaguely wonders what he did to regret it now.

~<>~

Koujirou felt slightly sick that morning. And the _thing_ in him seems to be uneasy. He wondered if something bad was going to happen. Arashi-san always tells him to listen to his instincts before listening to your head. While the human brain might grow accustomed to peace, one's instincts will always be animal.

Unsurprisingly, something does happen.

Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly didn't come close to what happens. Mostly because none of his thoughts lead anywhere near Lina going to the hospital with his baby cousin. Nor a car crash to take his aunt and uncle's life.

Still, he's trying to be somewhat positive. Because both Lina and Taiyou are _alive_. It makes the _thing_ settle slightly, but only a little. Because Koujirou isn't sure if it's his own rage or _its_ that he feels.

Boss called Arashi-san, which is weird in its self. Boss tries to not get anywhere near Arashi-san unless he absolutely has to. And he feels rage towards the nurses and the doctors that called Boss and not Arashi-san. Because while Boss might care for Lina, that doesn't mean they had to call him. There was a sixty-four percent change he wasn't going to pick up.

Rage easily melts into the desire to rip off the nurses' and doctors' heads. Before shredding them to tiny pieces, with his teeth.

Koujirou shudders at the image. Not because it's a horrible one, but because he thrills him.

Thankfully, the _thing_ in him is silent. Which means that Taiyou and Lina are okay. It did roar earlier, two times.

He wonders if it mourns his aunt and uncle.

They get in the car in complete silence, only Arashi-san mumbling something about the weather. Koujirou can tell that she's distracted by the events. It bothers him. Because Arashi-san is so strong.

When they get to the hospital, Boss is arguing (or it looks like arguing, adults are so weird) with the nurse at the front desk. Aniki is next to him and that makes Koujirou hesitate for a second. Instead of actually stopping, he gulps nervously and hides behind an impassive stare.

He thanks the Gods when Arashi-san marches in front of them, drags Boss by the elbow and Aniki follows. Koujirou feels his shoulders relax a bit. Even as Aniki's grey eyes catch his for a moment before he completely rounds a corner.

He really doesn't want to explain anything to his older brother.

A nice nurse guides them to Lina's room, explaining something about amnesia (Koujirou doesn't know what is) to Mitsuko-san. But he can gather by the growl of the _thing_ that it's not good. Mitsuko-san thanks the nurse - tensely might he add - and gently pushes the door open.

Koujirou has to drag Ryouhei a bit, when the younger boy stops to glower at the nurse. But he does glare over the younger's head at her too. And at any nurse that comes close. Jirou trails a bit behind.

When they enter, they are greeted with the sound of the heart monitor. Lina doesn't look up from her glass when they walk in. Nor when Jirou hesitantly calls out her name. She doesn't respond when Ryouhei basically growls out her name, worry outlining his tone.

And she almost slams the glass on Koujirou's head when he gently taps her shoulder. But stops and drops the glass, it falls on the bed and rolls for a bit before Koujirou catches it.

"Sorry!"

He winces at the almost shout. "You don't have to shout," he gently tries to calm her.

Except it does nothing but make her eyes wide. Fear sparks in them and he absolutely panics.

~<>~

Lina wakes up to utter silence. Thank fuck though, their sense of smell is still fucking working. It smells of sanitizer, alcohol-based, ninety-five percent alcohol.

' _That a lot..._ ' a voice mocks in their head.

They scoff right back before noticing some things, things that honest to fucking God make them question their sanity. ' _Ya stopped being sane a lon' time ago_ ,' the voice chirps again.

They push it back. And start actually fucking thinking. Because they're good at that. They're good at fucking thinking.

One, they're pretty fucking sure they fucking _died_.

Two, they vaguely remember making a deal with fucking _Death_ to not actually fucking _die_.

Three, they can feel their body, so it's pretty fucking obvious that they did _something_ right. On that note, they don't really know what.

Four, they are too fucking numb for it to be healthy. ' _Ya don' know what healthy is_ '. They are inclined to agree actually.

Five, it's easy to remember how they died in the first place. ' _Ya wouldn' be here if ya listened for a change,_ '.

They ignore it. Just out of pure spite if not anything else.

Back to thing four, though, and kinda thing zero. Sanitizer and numb muscles usually mean hospitals. Hospitals mean painkiller, hence the numbness. ' _Oh, is yer brain finally workin'?_ ' the voice teases a bit. <Shut the fuck up. Fuck, I hate hospitals.> ' _Know that, no need to bitch_ '.

Lina can't open their eyes. Nor hear anything. Which is plain worrying. Because fuck, they've been without hearing once, why the fuck must they go through it again? They can't sigh either. Because they most definitely would.

' _Hope ya burn through those. Yer brain ain't fun when ya're bored,_ ' the voice whines almost pitifully. Lina counts it as a small victory. ' _Ya're pathetic_ '.

They just mentally shrug. They built a resistance to painkillers back then. Well, anything not made by their mother in their basement. Still no hearing. Though, that's only their external hearing. Because they _can_ hear their aura.

And that kinda explains it. Somewhat. Because the crackling is louder, younger than Lina remembers it. Far more vigorous, the wind howl rustles through leaves.

Mentally sighing, Lina sends a quick shock in their hands. They only get one response from their left hand. It's barely a second later that they can feel the thunder crackle up and down their arm. From shoulder to their nails. Wiggling their fingers a bit, their arm spasms. ' _Ya don' need ta push,_ ' the voice chides.

<Fuck of,> they mentally snarl right back. And are surprised to notice their nose scrunching up. They keep their eyes closed while starting to drum on the bed. It started out of boredom, then it became a habit. And Lina pissed more than a few people off by tapping their nails against something metallic.

Un-fucking-fortunately, not having their eyes opened means their brain tries to make up for it with their other senses. Which is only partially working because they _still_ can't fucking _hear_. Opening their eyes before the painkillers wear off though, that would be another shit-show they don't want to deal with just yet. Instead opting to keep them closed until the painkillers do wear off.

Lina somehow reaches five times seven-thousand and two-hundred before the painkillers are washed out. Lina had spent two hours tapping their fingers on a hospital bed, instead of half an hour. ' _Yer body ain' the same,_ ' the voice supplies. ' _Ya haven' done nothin' crazy yet._ '

Thunder courses through their body, activating every nerve in its path. Wind howls in their brain, thunder cracks in their heart and veins, sun blazes on their muscles. Lina lets out a huff, their heart warming at the familiar sensation of their essence. Of Sein's aura, of endless sunny deserts that Lina should hate but _can't_.

Lights flicker. Lina doesn't need to open their eyes to see that. The bright light that blinded them even through shut eyelids gave way to utter darkness for a moment. Lina hears the crackles of electricity in the ceiling and around them.

Letting out a breath, thunder roars in their blood, boiling with anticipation. But, mentally, they know they should avoid rushing into a world they know jack-shit about. ' _When did ya get so wise?_ '

Lina opens their eyes for a split second before squeezing them shut against the darkness. <Good to fucking know that light still fucking suck..> They mentally rage, the voice laughing for a moment before going static. They don't bother questioning it, that wouldn't get them any answers.

After a number of failed attempts at adjusting to the light, they finally get the hang of it. Mostly though to lowering the brightness of the lightbulbs. Thank _fuck_ for electricity and stupidity and recklessness. Because Lina is nothing if not reckless, and letting herself get blinded by a flashlight for a week definitely counts as stupid.

They easily get into a sitting position just as an overly familiar doctor offers them a glass of water. Lina had noticed man the second they opened their eyes, well, more so noticed the hot temperature that the room has. Always too much heat in a room where a Gouenji is in. Except for Masato-chan, who would much rather commit suicide than spending a day on a beach.

Lina watches Gouenji-san from the corner of their eye. They look down at their glass of water before finally noticing how dry their throat feels. It brings forth a memory of crossing the desert with Hide, who had been kind enough to ask them.

While drinking the water, Lina appreciates the cool feeling, taking note of how tiny their hands appear to be. Frail, tiny, bony, and too pale for it to be healthy. At least, for how permanent their tan seems to be while growing up. They are mostly slightly annoyed at how little strength they have now. Over how little energy they can covey into existence.

Back to it though... Lina appears to be around ten, at most. They would have gritted their teeth in frustration, but the action seems too needlessly tiresome. Finding out what's different would be fine.

They're too focused on their thoughts to notice Gouenji-san walking out of the room, or their cousins walking it. They miss the calls that their younger cousins give.

A gentle - and very hesitant - tap on the shoulder has Lina swirling around, ready to smack the glass in the person's head. ' _WAIT!_ ' the voice roars and the glass stops almost an inch away from the boy's head. <Fuck...> is the first thing that comes to mind while Lina lets the glass fall on the bed.

Koujirou - a very much younger version of their Koujirou - catches the glass. Lina watches as the young panther puts the glass on the table a bit of ways from the bed. The apology tears out of their throat, raw and way too low, because Lina almost doesn't hear it when it's in the air.

"Sorry!" the blurt out, head a bit bowed. Had it been anyone else, Lina would have told them to go fuck themselves. But they don't have the heart to do that to Koujirou.

The boy winces a bit, but hides it. And his mouth moves but Lina doesn't hear anything. Just watches his lips move until they don't. By the soft look in those grey-blues, they can only guess that he's trying to reassure them of something.

Their eyes widen and heartbeat elevates. Blood rushes to their ears, which they cover in an attempt to ground themselves. It doesn't fucking work. Nothing fucking works!

It's utterly terrifying. By an old Latin phrase, Lina always sat, listened, and kept quiet. Always observing. Making quick jabs at whoever disturbed them. It's terrifying that that guideline of theirs might not longer be an option.

Breathing quickly turns into pants, ragged, and strangled. A cool hand touches their shoulder, and suddenly, they're no longer in the hospital.

"Ya're fine, Lina," a familiar voice hushes them gently, a cold hand rubbing their back. "Jus' breath. In an' out. That's the way. There ya go..."

Lina catches sight of dark locks and ruby eyes. "Who...?" they mumble while the world - or whatever it fucking is - darkens.

"Name's Yukine. Ya better remember it. Ya also better watch out for Blue-Eyes!"

Unfortunately, that raises more questions than it gives. And if there's one fucking thing Lina Kruger gathered over the last two and something hours, is that they are royally fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this; please comment & leave kudos if you want.


	5. Ab hinc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He liked to think things would get better from here on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet. Pretty proud of myself.
> 
> Fingerspelling will be put as - italic/underline - ; while signing will be put as - italic - . Just for future reference.
> 
> Also, 30 hits, I am very happy about that.

Yukine is thoughtfully bored with this world. Or, he was. Now, it's somewhat more entertaining. Just a little more though.

This world is very much like his own. There's differences here and there. But nothing absolutely different. Valentin is still dead, but Irina isn't in jail. In his old world, Yukine knew Valentin for ten years, the man adopted him after all. Irina, he never met back then. Something about a legal dispute between Irina and Valentin. Yukine never bothered to learn more than that.

Irina... Irina isn't what he expected. From whatever nightmares his oldest brother got, Yukine gathered that she isn't exactly a good person. But... The woman seems different. Very much different from what he gathered. Maybe having more kids helps, he got no idea.

Though, Yukine does know that Irina's pulling the strings of Orion Foundation. And that Aniki is merely the face while not actually working much. Supervising the process that Orion makes sounds like a better way to put what Aniki is doing.

Yukine doesn't bother with any of that. Just gives his report when it's time to give it and tries to not bang his head on the table while watching the little wolf train. Of course, said little wolf got smacked in the face with a ball more often than not thanks to one Yuri Rodina. Yukine isn't even going to question it.

Of course, there's his hypersomnia. Not that it bothers him too much. Though three pills a day is a pain. Thank God for rich older siblings willing to pay for the actual medicine. Because it's expensive and Yukine hadn't actually needed it in a longer period of time than he's willing to admit.

It's not even that much of a problem at school since Aniki dropped by during first year to 'talk' to his teachers and Raimon-san. Yukine isn't sure he wants to know how that went. Aniki is one scary dude if he wants something done. Maybe it comes with being in a family of people that liked getting into legal trouble. Yukine wonders which incident made him decide to become a lawyer.

He wonders if it was the juvie thing. Probably.

Still, Yukine got out of getting detention or expulsion though to sleeping in class. First had been uninteresting. Though Mi-Rae did make him meet Arashi-san and that meant that he got access to Arashi-san's - over two-thousand* square-foot - library. Of course, most people wouldn't have a freaking giant library under their house, but what can you do?

(A.N.: in meters, that's about 609.6.)

Arashi-san's library means having access to all the horror, thriller, dark fantasy, detective and crime, and whatever other slightly dark books he can get his hands on. Lina was extremely fond of teasing him for his love of books. Also, the sheer amount of books in that library as a whole is a bit too much for him to count.

Yukine enjoys seeing Shuuya-chan walk into their class. Mostly because of Mamoru. Though, this is not supposed to be his class. He did have to retake the first year of Jr. High, which was kinda horrible. Because he kinda had to take it three times.

He watches from the side while Teikoku marches on Raimon ground. Which is really, far more dramatic than Yukine remembers it. Not that Kidou doesn't have a flair for the dramatics, but you know, whatever. He rolls his eyes at how deep up his behind that stick is shoved.

He still gets the need to wring Kidou's head though. Through the whole match. Even while nodding to Raimon-chan's comments. Yukine is very much trying to ignore the fact that he's on the second floor. Because otherwise, he might faint right then and there.

Yukine thinks of some gruesome things to do to both Kidou and Ji-chan. He almost adds Kou in that mix too. But can't because Kou just stands there, and accidentally bangs his head a goal post. Thankfully, no one is paying attention to him. Yukine is almost cackling like a hyena while the lion-haired goalkeeper rubs his head.

He doesn't even think about joining the soccer club. Not with Mamoru so insistent on it anyway. Yukine doesn't quite remember if the goalkeeper had been this insistent the last time around.

Probably.

He still meddles around here and there. Give Shuuya-chan a not-so-gentle nudge into joining earlier. Makes sure that Kidou doesn't spiral into depression after Teikoku's loss to Zeus. It did happen, for a little while last time. He offers his assistance to Onigawara-san in regards to Zeus' team. Yukine cashes in a favor with the director of a good rehabilitation center to treat the players.

Mostly because he's somewhat guilty for not being able to stop Terumi-chan from moving to the Zeus dorms. And because he does love the little incarnation of the freaking Goddess. He didn't go to Teikoku vs Zeus; because seeing Teikoku fall would hurt more remembering how much work they put into getting back up.

Ever since coming back to Japan, Yukine kept track of everyone in Ohisama En, visiting every now and then. He tries to not keep a too close watch on them, though. Just enough to make sure nothing causes them to spiral out of control. Not that they have anything that can channel that spiral. Yukine made sure of that about four years ago.

Sein is very useful when he wants to be. Also, Yukine doesn't really want to know what it took for him to convince that fiend to actually take the stone.

He's not surprised when Midori-chan doesn't smash Raimon to the ground. While he didn't really get to be around that much after that, Yukine does know that Midori-chan wasn't really Midori-chan at that point.

He - albeit somehow nervously - agrees to Mamoru's invitation of going to celebrate with Raimon. No... With Inazuma Eleven. Yukine feels very much out of place until Ichinose starts talking to him. Which turns into Yukine writing things on his notebook while the other brunet talks. Thankfully, the 'conversation' flows naturally.

It turns out that Ichinose is planning on moving back to America, with Asuka. Yukine scribbles the name of a team on his notebook before ripping off the page and giving it to the other. - they're good - he scribbles on a different page. And Ichinose laughs and says he'll check it out. Yukine's lips quirk upward a bit.

A week later - plus visiting Terumi-chan (and thrice a day at that) daily - Yukine sits in the stadium, far away from the rest of the people. He hadn't been expecting this. Spain's Barcelona Orb is a rather strong team, even by international standards. He mourns Japan when Raimon gets destroyed by Barcelona Orb with 13-0 for the Spanish team.

Yukine learns from Raimon-chan - about three days later - that Raimon's soccer club got disbanded. He's not sure what to make of the information. Lina most definitely would. Lina's the smart one. Always had been, always will be.

He gets on board with the idea when he finds out what would happen to the actual members of the club. 'Committee members' sounds like a fancy way to put 'reinforcements'. Because it would mean they would help Japan catch up to the world's level. Which is terribly high if he's being honest.

Too bad he's awful at telling the truth. Or being honest. So, it's easy to lie - even - to himself. To think that 'This is okay. We'll make it work'.

Because nothing else would ever be able to bring Japan on the world's level. Not without Kudou-san's strategies, or without Lina's brute force. There's nothing weird going on this time around.

So, their third year - which really, should be his first high school year - the new Inazuma Eleven starts out in different schools. Some in different states, over the ocean.

No one goes to Zeus. It's easy, bringing up Aniki's name opens doors. So it's not a problem to make sure that there's no one sent to Zeus. It - of course - came with the promise of weekly reports on the process Zeus makes. And that one Afuro Terumi to be kept as captain of the team.

In their shared apartment, Yukine is busy braiding Terumi-chan's hair. Mindful of the wings, his legs are thrown over the boy's shoulders, heels resting against his hips. They found out early on, that the wings got cramped and uncomfortable if held closed. So, all three pairs are spread out on the floor while Terumi-chan leans against the bed. On which Yukine is sitting, a couple of his locks in hand.

Then, his phone - which is on the nightshade on the other side of the bed - ring. And Yukine hangs his head, sighing and handing Terumi-chan the braid. Reaching for it, Yukine double checks the name before handing it to Terumi-chan. Red eyes glance up at him, weary before answering the call.

"Kurosaki Yukine's phone," Yukine breaks eye contact by blinking at which the blond quietly chuckles. "Yes, she's here," even the boy wincing at the pronoun while he grimaces.

Yukine fingerspells, - _not here_ \- while Terumi-chan gets up to sit on the bed. He feels a soft brush against his side, making him relax some. One blond eyebrow raises, and he pouts. - _speaker_ \- he fingerspells again. The blond nods while combing through his hair to undo the ruined braid. Yukine smiles a bit while chewing on his lip.

" _Hello, Kurosaki-kun._ "

Yukine scrunches up her nose at the voice, <why does this guy still 'ave my number?> he mentally wails. - _what does he want_ \- he signs this time. Terumi-chan nods before translating. Of course, his friend leaves out his tone, speaking monotonously.

" _Are you still going to be the silent guardian of Raimon?_ "

He mutely snarls, and Terumi-chan's head snaps to the glass of water on the nightshade. Yukine's follow, just slower. And he grimaces at the water, now frozen. And at the cracking glass too. He calms down some, forcefully.

\- _tell him yes_ \- he signs to his friend, who voices it.

" _There's a group coming to Raimon from Inakunijima, tomorrow. They're playing a match in the preliminaries._ "

"Where does Kurosaki come in?" had it been anyone else, they wouldn't have picked up on Terumi-chan's slightly protective tone. Nor the feeling of feathers sharpening.

" _Simple_ ," he can actually see the man shrugging. " _If they lose, they come back here and never play football again_ ," something grips at his chest, cold and sharp, much like a claw. " _They win or get a sponsor, they can continue playing_."

Yukine hates himself a little for biting. - cut it - he signs, looking away from Terumi-chan. But he does see his friend reach for the phone, presses the button then placing it back on the nightshade.

He twirls his finger in a circle, pointing at the bed. "Turn," Yukine orders, and the blond huffs a bit before following his order.

He does choke on a feather when Terumi-chan smacks his top wing in his face. "Oops," the incarnation shrugs, a self-satisfied smile on his lips.

Yukine retaliates by pulling at his hair, causing a startled yelp. Grinning, he starts separating his friend's golden locks. "Ya want anythin'? Like, specific? ... Or, I should do whatever?"

His fingers easily part through his hair while he puffs to send a stay lock away from between his eyes. "Pigtails," Terumi-chan firmly answers, tilting his head back a bit.

Raising an eyebrow, Yukine separates his hair in the middle, throwing one half over his wing. "Simple, Dutch, French...?"

A hum while the blond points to the still frozen glass off-handedly. "First, unfreeze that. Eomma is going to kill you. Two..." the boy seems to think for a second before shrugging. "Surprise me, Yuki-chan."

Huffing again, Yukine clicks his tongue but nods. "Not gonna regret this, are ya?" he asks rhetorically.

"Nope," the bright tone is followed by a short silence.

Yukine isn't going to let it settle, so he starts humming. After a while, Terumi-chan joins it. It fills the silence. And it's comforting, Yukine forgot how comforting the sound of his own voice is.

Later, while he's finishing Terumi-chan's French braids, the blond speaks up. "How come you don't sing anymore, Yuki-chan? It's been bugging me."

For a tense second, Yukine doesn't answer. "There's no one to sing to," he sighs.

A thoughtful hum is his only answer. Neatly tying the rest of Terumi-chan's hair into pigtails, he excuses himself. Mostly to go back into his room, and look at that one photo that Sein somehow still had and given to him.

The face that Yukine could safely say he knew as well as his own, stared back. His fingers shake while bright teal eyes seem to glim a bit, red eyeshine from the camera obscuring the pupil. A floral yukata almost falling off the person's shoulders. Teeth shining in the flash of the camera.

Yukine remembered it was a photo that Shuuya-chan took. He got sick during that time so he couldn't attend the festival. Not that he minded much at the time. Festivals in Okinawa are way different from the ones in Tokyo, in his opinion. Still, he would have gotten up if he had known that his annoying demon would actually wear something festival-appropriate.

"Heya, Lina," Yukine's tone is soft while flopping back first on his bed. "Been a while."

~<>~

Yukine is far from fond of cursing, but he mostly makes exceptions for Terumi-chan and Lina. He mostly does it when they piss him off bad or generally annoy him. Mentally cursing someone at five something in the morning became something of a daily thing since the Zeus captain moved back into the apartment.

Cursing Afuro Terumi to Hell and back and six-ways to Sunday happens to be the only thing that he can actually do about the situation. Yukine, in a rational state, wouldn't argue too much, to begin with. Not to have his pills taken.

But a somewhat sleep-deprived Yukine that didn't even have time to get an actual book from home? He does thank whoever listens, rubbing his right palm, for the fact that he still has books at school. Monday always sucks.

Mostly though to Terumi-chan waking him up at three something in the freaking morning. Because, of course, Zeus is half-way around Japan and the boy developed the habit of coming back Friday and leaving Monday morning. That meant Yukine had to get up at an ungodly hour before the sun rises. Which really, wouldn't bug him that much.

Except it's an hour's walk from their apartment building to Raimon. Even with Yukine's horribly slow walking, it still only adds about twenty minutes.

A shiver runs down his spine when a - very early - jogger passes by him. It makes the hair on his arms stand up, and ice-cold sweat to drip down his back. Taking one look at the person, Yukine only catches a glimpse of bright blue eyes.

"The Hell...?" he mumbles while putting a hand on his chest, surprised by the quick beats. He shrugs it off.

_He forgets it rather quickly._

Arriving at school, thirty minutes later, Yukine is once again thankful that Aniki made sure that the guard at this hour doesn't change. He jumps over the fence, mostly cause he's still too sleepy to notice that the door is open. Or how high the fence is. A huff from the guard and he gives the poor man a wave and a sleepy-ass smile.

He's awake until around seven, reading 'It' by Stephen King, in Chinese. He does end up banging his head on his desk a number of times when he gets stuck somewhere. Yukine does end up falling asleep before anyone else walks into their homeroom class.

_He dreams of glimmering sapphires surrounded by cold, endless darkness._

Thankfully, Yukine's reputation is enough to keep anyone that actually knows him away. And anyone that's stupid enough to try gets stirred away by someone. Who'd want to mess with Kurosaki Yukine's sleep? The answer is simple, a very brave person, or an idiot.

His friend, Tsukushi... He's not entirely sure which category she fits in yet. Even three years later, he's still not sure. 

" _You don't have friends, right?_ " the girl had smiled at him. " _My name's Ootani Tsukushi! I'll be your friend from now on!_ "

Yukine had been too shocked by the sheer amount of _guts_ that the girl had. And agreed. He's not sure if he's ever going to regret it. He doesn't mostly, it's impossible. Because he _can't_ stay even annoyed at the petit girl, even when she wakes him up. She's too much like Kino-chan... Always trying to help.

It's lunchtime when Tsukushi wakes him up. Of course, no one picks on the petit girl, not when Yukine is constantly glaring at everyone from under his lashes while walking beside her. Then again, no one dares to pick on Tsukushi period because of him.

No one needs a reminder of what happened last year. Yukine _will not_ deny that he beat a guy half to death after he (the guy) rough-handled Tsukushi on a dare. And put him in the hospital with a broken wrist, a cracked ankle, and severe bruising. Of course, what probably made him scarier is the fact that he's still allowed to attend school. And isn't in juvie.

He does get ever so slightly annoyed when Tsukushi rumbles on about the new soccer club. To the point of aggressively munching his third sandwich. Even though he only partially listens while leaning against a tree. <Stayin' awake's a pain...>

"The captain, Michinari-kun, is so nice! He's in our class, but you wouldn't know that 'cause you always sleep," the statement is accompanied by a nudge. "Also..."

Closing his lunchbox, Yukine leans to let his head drop on his friend's lap. Had it been anyone else, they would have squealed or jumped. Thankfully, Tsukushi is passed that phase, now simply combing her fingers through his hair.

He closes his eyes while stretching a bit and yawning. Tsukushi chuckles a bit at that. "You're like a cat."

A lazy and somewhat proud look meets her when she looks at him. "Yeah," he drawls, nodding while she goes back to petting him. "A very _manly_ and _handsome_ cat."

That cracks her up while he smirks, self-satisfied. "Changing subjects-"

"Bu' why?" Yukine whines, pouting up at his friend. "I like 'his one!"

Tsukushi shrugs as if saying 'what can you do?'. "Why not join the soccer club, Kuro?" he tenses for a second, eyes sharpening on the girl's face. Even while she stubbornly looks in front of her. "You're freaking awesome at it, I've seen you," he groans while getting into a sitting position. "They're plenty good for kids from a no-name island."

Picking up his bag, Yukine snorts. "We'll 'ave to see that, won't we?" He throws a smirk over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Tsukushi scrambles to her feet. "You're going to the match?" the hopeful tone doesn't escape him.

Gritting his feet, he picks up a bit on speed. "'course. Wouldn' wanna miss it," the tone sounds too fake and he stumbles when Tsukushi barrels into him.

"Thank you!" the girl is brightly smiling up at him when he looks at her. "You won't regret it! I swear, Kuro!"

Nodding, Yukine turns his face away to hide the slightly warm feeling that is most definitely a blush. "Yeah, whatev'," he mumbles. "Can ya let go? People are..." he looks around and his jaw sets when he makes eye contact with a teacher.

"Oh!" the brunette jumps off him, waving her hands around. "Sorry, forgot about your..." she trails, and Yukine shrugs, ruffling the shorter's hair.

It doesn't bother him that much. People always forget something.

~<>~

He's still cursing Kidou to hell and back for telling him to read 'No Longer Human' by Dazai Osamu. Because Yukine might be a book fanatic, but it's one of the only books he read more than five times. Actually, multiplying that by ten would be somewhere close to how many times he's read it.

Still, that doesn't stop him from burying his nose in the book again while yawning. He's not sure if he's reading or just remembering the exact words in the book. Probably a bit of both if he takes a moment to think. Mostly because he knows the book inside and out. And in four languages to boot. So, yes, it is rather confusing as to which he's doing.

Walking by the riverbank field, Yukine expects to hear children playing soccer. He doesn't, but he does hear shouting. And not the nice kind by the sound of it. Slowly, he looks at the pitch only for his eyes to sharpen. He picks up his pace while walking down from the road and on the pitch. He shuts the book, gently stuffing it between his notebooks.

On the soccer field, near the goal farthest from him, a couple of - what look like - middle school punks are forming a circle around a little kid with dull teal hair. Their backs are to him, but he does catch sight of sharp, golden eyes glancing at him. The dark purple uniforms on the older kids catch his attention. <Well, well, well... Been a while since I kicked anyone's ass...>

He's pretty close to skipping over talking and right to fists when he's in earshot of the punks. ' _Fucking bullying bitches,_ ' a voice that is most definitely not his snarls. It makes him bristle. Lovely, he's hearing voices.

"Useless!" the one in the middle calls out. "Why don't you go cry to mommy, little crybaby? Oh, yeah! She didn't want you!"

Yukine is close enough to see the boy shaking, either in fear or anger, he's not sure yet. "Do ya got nothin' better to do?" he takes slightly pleasure into seeing them jump, yelp, and swirl to look at him. It feels awkward to be the same height as someone, at least for him.

The one that was shouting insults a second ago seems to get over the shock faster than he would have liked. "What's it to you, girly-boy?" he snarls. "And it's none of your goddamned business, you son of a bitch."

Huffing, Yukine crosses his arms in front of him. And is terribly glad that he had decided to ditch the gakuran by tying it around his waist. Because of course, all of their attention is drawn to his arms. Thanks to the habit that he might have picked up from Fuusuke (even if he did, no one's going to know) the sleeves of his dress shirt are folded until they ride up to his upper arms.

The bandages around his knuckles and fingers are way too obvious. Covered in different amounts of red and purple and pink. Only his left arm is bandaged thanks to the whiter skin being more sensitive to the sun. And Yukine managed to kick the habit of digging his nails in until it bleeds and scars.

A smirk tilts up his lips while he drawls. "Ya're not wrong there. But do ya really _kiss_ _yer_ mother with that mouth?" he baits.

And of course, the boy bites. "What the hell did you say about my mother?!" he basically screeches.

Hiding a grimace behind a cocky attitude is easy. "Ya heard me. Not a big fan of repeatin' myself," he shrugs, completely uncaring towards them. "Scram," his eyes turn cold.

The brat opens his mouth but is cut off by a shout, which makes them all jump. Yukine sighs, relaxing his stance and glancing at the teal-haired kid. The kid is shakily standing up.

"You five!" the voice is strikingly familiar, Yukine's heard it more than a couple of times over the years.

Turning his head a bit, he almost cracks up. A snarl is pulling at the wolf's lips, hair bristled and sharp ears almost touching his head on the sides.

Yukine raises a hand in a half-assed wave. "Heya," he calmly greets even while the punks look ready to bolt. "These with ya, wolf-boy?"

The growl is accompanied by a nod. "Yeah," the punks shiver when Tsukimura glances at them. "What did they do this time?" the tone makes promises of punishment.

It lights a spark of delight in him. "Jus' the kid," he throws his thumb over his shoulder to point at the teal-haired kid. "Ya got everythin' under control?"

He doesn't stiffen the laughs in his throat as Tsukimura growls at the five Occult students. "Start walking," the wolfish boy orders, and the boys follow the command immediately.

A wolf is still a wolf. Even caged. Even dressed in human skin. And idiots are sheep, even dressed as mutts.

Yukine hides a yawn behind the back of his hand. He tenses a bit when he feels a gentle - hesitant - tug at his gakuran. He might have missed it, had he not paid attention to things around him.

Glancing down, red meets brownish-gold. They both hold each other's gaze for a moment. Both unblinking. Yukine's seen that cautious look before, in himself. It's not really that disturbing as it should be to see it on a kid give or take ten years younger. People still suck sometimes.

Yawning behind his hand again, Yukine bends his knees, trying to be on a more speaking level even while his gakuran brushed the dust on the field.

"Heya, kid," he greets, getting a tiny - almost unseen - nod in return. "Ya got hurt too bad anywhere?"

Eyes shut, the boy shakes his head.

"Ya wanna let go?"

Yukine points at his gakuran, another head shake and the boy tightens his hold.

"'k... Ya got anywhere to go? Family? Friends?"

Fear flashes into the boy's eyes for a second before he closes them again and violently shakes his head, starting to shake a bit again.

"'k... Are ya hungry or something?" Yukine most definitely is hungry.

That - thank ~~fuck~~ God - got a different reaction and an actual answer. "Yes..." the kid's voice is meek, almost inaudible and he nods along with it as if to make sure he hears it.

Yukine's lips quirk upward a bit. "I know ya got zero reason to trust me," he starts getting up and brushing nonexistent dust off his pants, and actual dust off his gakuran. "But I kinda know this place down the road," he vaguely gestures to Inazuma Town. "They got good food. Ya can come with if ya want."

Another uncertain nod, this one seeming a bit shy. "Please."

He smiles softly. "'k, kid. Name's Kurosaki Yukine. Either Kuro or Yukine is fine though," he shrugs and starts walking.

The paddling is somewhat hurried as the kid comes to walk beside him. He mumbles something that Yukine suspects it's his name. Even this close to the kid, he can't really make out what the kid said.

"Yeah..." he drawls, ruffling the back of his hair. "Didn' catch that, kid. I ain' gonna eat ya, so ya can speak up if ya want," he offers, shrugging and covering his left arm with his sleeve. Sun, even on his bandages causes discomfort. He tries to ignore the itch to cover his face too.

He glances down at the kid when he hears him take a sharp breath. "Kariya Masaki..." the boy trails off, seeming to want to make himself look smaller than he already is.

Yukine nods. "Nice name," he compliments, smiling at the kid for a second longer. "Nice to meet ya, Masaki."

He doesn't bother putting an honorific to it. The kid seems to appreciate it. The sun beats down on him, wearing down his already tired self.

But... Yukine hopes against hope and experience... that from here on things will get better. Not only for him, but for them. And he hopes to look into Lina's eyes one more time in this world. He's not sure how, but he still hopes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed; please comment & leave kudos if you want. :)


	6. Cygnus inter anates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They stood out like swans among ducks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how this is going to go. Or how it's going. Okaish maybe? Also, form this chapter on, Lina will be referred to by themselves as 'Lin', because it seems more gender-neutral, despite it meaning 'pretty' in Latin.
> 
> There's a bunch of references to mythologies in this. For those that don't want to look up: Hati is from Norse mythology, where he (along with his brother, Sköll) chases the Moon (Mani) and the Sun (Sol) respectively, to devour them.
> 
> I took this idea from Gran Fenrir. Fenrir, in some sources, is said to be the father of both Hati and Sköll.
> 
> 'Kleos' is the Greek word for 'glory'. 'Edom' is Hebrew for 'red'. 'Eir' means 'mercy' in old Norse.
> 
> None of why these things are important will be mentioned soon. Just a head's up.

Aunty sends them and Tayou to America the second they both get discharged. Lin isn't sure what to think of California. It's hot, it makes them sweat a lot. It's annoying. Maybe not as annoying as having to get stuck in the hospital almost all day long, but still.

California is no New Orleans is Lin's base judgment of the place. But New Orleans doesn't have Dylan Keith. Actually no place other than California has Dylan Keith. Which kinda sucks because Lin needs Dylan in their life almost as much as they need Mark and Koujirou.

Dylan - in Lin's book - is actually situated between Mark and Koujirou, more so leaning towards their brother. One-half platonic, the other not so much. But not really romantic either. It's the closest thing to romantic that isn't quite romantic but isn't really platonic either. It's weird, but both Lin and Dylan have long since stopped trying to find a term for it.

Lin's been honest to God worried about Kleos since they came here. They haven't even seen the feline since they got here. Which really, should have set off warning alarms but Lin had been too fucking preoccupied with the fact they can't fucking hear anything yet!

Of course, Ma already ordered some hearing aid for them. RTE, actually. Lin had only found out later in life - about two years after losing their hearing - that they're better suited for them. They're fine with waiting for a while until they're done.

Thank fuck though! Because Lin and Mark finally managed to convince Ma to let them to the beach and of fucking course Dylan is there to meet them. Or Mark. Most definitely Mark.

"Oh, she's fine," Lin notes after two snarls resound in their head.

It's weird. They hadn't exactly expected to be able to hear Kleos, let alone Dylan's Hati. Said human yelps when the black wolf darts away from him, meeting Lin's Kleos half-way. Of course, first time Kleos wakes up is to butt heads with the wolf. Snarls rip through the air while Dylan panics.

' _God, ya're pathetic,_ ' the voice speaks up. ' _Aren't 'hey auras or something? Spirits?_ ' the inquisitive tone is replaced by a teasing one. ' _Ya don' need ears to hear 'em._ '

Lin nods. Yup should have figured that much. They ignore the fight in favor of introducing themselves - loudly by Mark's wince - to Dylan. Which is fucking weird. Like, really fucking weird. And Lin's met Death.

Seeing Dylan again fucks them up a bit. Hati and Kleos are still at each other's throats, the black of Hati's fur almost looking like it's smoking while Kleos' claws dig into both the darkness and the sand underneath them. After twenty minutes in which Mark managed to distract Dylan from the two spirits, both scramble back to their respective human and demon.

"T҉h҉a҉t҉ s҉o҉n҉ o҉f҉ a҉..." Kleos growls not looking away from Hati while paddling beside Lin, who's paying for some ice cream for all three of them.

Glancing at the shadowy wolf, Lin sees the creature rolling his eyes. "꒓ꂑꁍꑛ꓅ ꃃꋫꏸꀗ ꋫ꓅ ꐟꆂꐇ, ꃃꂑ꓅ꏸꑛ," he snarls, pulling back his lips and showing his teeth.

Kleos - of fucking course - takes that as a challenge, snarling right back. Lin worries about Kleos. Like, for Kleos' mentally sanity, not for the spiritual body itself. That one hardly ever gets hurt.

"ꐟꆂꐇ'꒓ꍟ ꒒ꐇꏸꀗꐟ ꐟꆂꐇ꒓ ꁕꍟꁒꆂꁹ ꆂꏝꍟ꒓ ꓅ꑛꍟ꒓ꍟ ꒓ꍟꁒꍟꁒꃃꍟ꒓ꌚ ꌚꑛꂑ꓅," at that, Kleos bristles and attacks.

Lin bristles too, but for a different reason. They were already on edge as it was, but Hati... _Hati_ fucking remembers. And by the reaction Kleos gave, they both remember.

They manage to sort through their thoughts pretty quickly though. Which is good, because both Hati and Kleos are dripping in the blood that doesn't form puddles underneath them and doesn't dye the sand. They were already feeling slightly awkward from handing around Mark and Dylan, so they easily came up with an excuse.

Kleos' head snaps to them and dodging out of the way of Hati's leap, the feline strides after them. A growl rips through the air as Hati follows on their other side, snarling at Kleos.

After talking to both of the spirits, Lin finds that - thank fucking fuck - Dylan doesn't remember the Before. Somehow, that lessens some of the killing intent that the two spirits give off. ' _Ohhh,_ ' the voice cooed in their head, ' _'ey got lonely, Lina!_ '

For once, Lin smirks and replays the message. "Have you two been lonely?" they tease rather loudly - probably, they don't know, okay? - in a tiny-ass alley, out of anyone's hearing range.

That got them two growls and Lin concludes that they were right. And they waltz back to the beach, sun pleasantly beating down on them. It's a nice feeling, though they jump when Mark taps their shoulder.

Dylan laughs at something Mark says later and Lin smiles. It's nice to see their little brother laughing. And Lin figures that the bond between them probably won't change. So, they throw an arm around both of their shoulders and start dragging them back to the hospital before Mark gets a sunstroke or something. The voice is silent mostly while they're in America.

And when it talks it's mostly to bring Lin's attention to something. Such as Mark disappearing out of sight again. Which panics Lin into an almost catatonic state. It's very fucking frustrating to not be able to find him.

Before - no matter the circumstances - Lin could find Mark. It's disturbing to _not_ be able to do just that at age _ten_. Lin did lose their hearing Before, just that it happened when they were _nineteen_. Not fucking ten.

' _Mentally speakin', ya ain' 'at mature, Lina,_ ' the voice helpfully points out.

For once they can't really disagree.

They (Mark and Lin) are eventually allowed to return to New Orleans, to their Dad. But only after Lin gets their hearing aid done. They're kinda awesome really. Mostly though to the fact that only one is visible all the time while the other simply _isn't_. Even though they're both black and it should stand out against their hair, it doesn't and they're happy with that.

Lin watches Mark and Dylan hug, the hearing aids turned off to actually let them have some form of privacy. They glace to where Hati and Kleos are throwing insults at each other before huff, rolling their eyes, and getting in the passenger seat.

"You're not allowed in the front seat, Camelia," their father says, looking out the driver's window.

Lin crosses their arms. "I'm allowed. It's a free country," they huff while putting on their seatbelt.

"And I'm your dad," Michael rolls his eyes. "Back seat, Cami."

Pouting, Lin shakes their head, before resorting to begging, Dad's always weak for puppy-dog eyes. "Please? Come on, Dad," Lin does puppy-dogs eyes when the man looks at them. "I promise I'll be quiet, and not mess with the radio," they add.

Dad sways a bit before putting up the 'responsible adult' look. "No, you're not doing that. Back seat-"

Lin cuts him off. "Please? I won't tell Ma!" they promise, knowing that they'll have to convince Mark to not spill the beans either. "Promise! Just this once, please!"

The man sighs and bangs his head on the wheel, blaring the horn. Lin does a tiny victory dance in their seat, fist-bumping the air. "Just this once," Dad warns. "And then when you're of legal age. Okay? One time thing, Cami."

They enthusiastically nod while Mark slams the back door shut, leaning on their seats. "Why does Cami get to stay in front and I don't?" Mark pouts.

"Blackmail, little bro," Lin shrugs, feeling oddly nonchalant. "Blackmail opens doors."

Dad laughs while they wave at Dylan. "Keep talking like that," the man smirks. "And you're grounded for life," he makes a pause while starting the car. "Or, until you eat vegetables."

Lin feels a wave of disgust in their gut. "Hell no!" they scrunch up their nose. "Gross. Meat all the way, Dad."

That cracks both their brother and father up. "Okay, easy you carnivore," Dad still grinning, seemingly highly amused.

"You bet I am!" Lin proudly lifting their chin before joining in on Mark's laughing.

It starts raining and Lin presses themselves against the window, eyes remaining unblinking at every flash of lightning. The hearing aids are very well-tuned, filtering the sounds for Lin to hear the roars of thunder. Even though the ringing of said hearing aids makes it a bit hard. Or their ears, they don't particularly care.

~<>~

Kleos isn't one to worry. Not over his demon at least. His demon's stronger than that. She needs no protection from nobody. Kleos is included in that. When while hovering over his demon's shoulders, unseen even by her.

This world is somewhat strange. Not that different from their old one, actually. Yet, there are enough subtle details to piss Kleos off more than that mutt does. He absolutely infuriating that he can't do anything about it. Edom is as usual far from useful, the blood falcon still on Liocott and all that.

Unfortunately for everyone - but Kleos specifically - Eir isn't much present either. Eir is the balance that makes sure that no scales are tipped between Kleos and Edom. Kleos can't feel Eir's precious human either. He doesn't particularly _want_ to know _why_.

He's cackling like a hyena on crack when his demon gets held behind during her second year for 'violent behavior towards a member of the school's faculty.' That meant screaming her head off at that bastard. That bastard who got Yuuka stuck in the hospital, who hurt Shuuya. Took Daisuke from Mamoru. Destroyed Teikoku and poisoned Aphrodite's incarnation into dispair.

Kleos hates him for it. Aphrodite used to pet him and nurse him after a - particularly - hard battle. No one should dare to lay a hand - even if metaphorically speaking - on her incarnation. Before, Eir's human had thrown a fit upon learning what that bastard did to Terumi. And froze half the stadium while at it. Kleos _really_ enjoyed that part.

Of course, then his demon had to interfere and calm down Eir's human. Not that Kleos missed the way the sky flashed and boomed. He was more than a little disappointed when the rain didn't start coming down. Just a little.

Black Sun stones don't happen. Kleos is happy with that. His human hates Black Sun stones, Kleos does too. For different reasons, but he does too. He hates them for slowly corrupting Edom.

He also hates Black Sun stones for making his demon ten times more irritable. Made her act without thinking, irrationally.

Kleos loudly roars when Raimon wins the FF. He feels exhilarated, even while bristling while his demon hugs each of the players. Making a point of ignoring Sköll's mockery, mostly out of spite for the mutt's brother.

He and Akimitsu tried their best at physically - or spiritually if you want to go into technicalities - holding back Sköll from assaulting any of Barcelona Orb's players a week after the finals. Barcelona Orb is Spain's Youth League champions, whatever that means. A practice match turned into a remastered version of Teikoku vs Raimon #1.

"C҉a҉l҉m҉ d҉o҉w҉n҉!" Kleos screeches through clenched teeth while holding Sköll by his tail, hair tickling his nose.

"ꀤ'꒒꒒ ꋪꀤꉣ ꓄ꃅꍟꂵ ꍏ ꈤꍟꅏ ꂦꈤꍟ!" Sköll howls, trying to free himself.

Kleos feels somewhat sorry for how tired his demon is later. Or not. Maybe Akimitsu is projecting his emotions again. Probably. Kleos can't bring himself to care much. Caring sucks. Edom and Eir are supposed to care. Kleos is just supposed to make sure they have something to care _for_.

After the stupid transfer from Raimon to Outei Tsukinomiya, courtesy of Arashi, Kleos finds there are annoying humans in Japan. Not normal annoying. Anyone can be normal annoying. No, smart annoying.

Nosaka Yuuma talks more than Keith. Keith, who can't shut his mouth if it would safe his life. The mutt somehow shuts his mouth in those situations. Kleos wouldn't be surprised if the mutt shoved his tail in Keith's mouth to shut him up.

"C҉a҉n҉ I҉ s҉h҉o҉v҉e҉ m҉y҉ t҉a҉i҉l҉ i҉n҉ h҉i҉s҉ m҉o҉u҉t҉h҉?" when he growls that out, his demon gives the subtlest of head shakes.

The walking Emperor chatters. A lot. Kleos can't even figure where he's seen the fur-trimmed, red cape. Nosaka Yuuma chats and chats and chats and just doesn't stop. Kleos is banging his head against a nearby tree. His demon's horns are more visible than usual, flickering in and out of his plane.

Nosaka talks more than Keith. And that says a lot. A very happy Keith starts coughing if he talks too much for too long. Nosaka doesn't. He just talks, about anything.

Kleos takes some form of sick satisfaction at seeing his demon sulking. His demon doesn't really sulk, not when she has ice cream. Which she usually does. Ice cream means life in his demon's book. Kleos agrees. Ice cream's good.

Not as good as wine, but good. Last time his demon and wine came close to each other was horrible. No matter how many lives, his demon still can't handle alcohol. At all. Kleos finds it very amusing.

Kleos isn't really sure what Nosaka is talking about at this point. Probably watermelon. 'Totally unhealthy obsession with watermelon this one has' Kleos tells as much to his demon, who agrees. He's as obsessed with watermelon as his demon is with ice cream. And Kleos' demon is weird enough to own a tiny freezing chamber.

Kleos detaches his face from where he had pressed it against the bark of the tree when his demon gets up. Leaping, Kleos is immediately wiggling himself around her legs. Don't judge him, his demon's warm. Even if wiggling himself around her kinda means rubbing his head against his demon's ribs.

He finds it amusing. His demon skips while starting to walk. "You coming?" his demon calls over her shoulder, at Nosaka who got lost in thought at some point.

Kleos hadn't even noticed that Nosaka stopped talking. The Emperor gets up, a smile curling his upward. "Right behind you, Sakuma-san."

A sudden shock in their paws and a quick glance at his demon's hands, tell Kleos that she's annoyed. Or getting annoyed. Kleos doesn't care much. People are people and people fake. That's what people do. His demon fakes a lot too. But at least she doesn't do it intentionally. Kleos is kinda worried, because, is that better? Or worse?

Kleos trails a bit behind them while Nosaka drags his human. He fades into the astral plane easily. Thousands of more people fill the narrow road. Beings and creatures. Kleos ignores them in favor of looking at the sky. The astral plane is held in balance by those like Kleos, Eir, and Edom.

By their not-so-astral 'masters'. Many spirits enjoy living the high-end life while Kleos and others break their backs to sustain the realm they live in. Eir - ever the peacekeeper - had suggested they cut connections with the astral plane. Edom had pointed out that they'd probably kill their 'masters' in doing so. Kleos strongly opposed the idea after that.

Eir dropped it after that.

Kleos hisses at the tiny, infuriating fox that keeps messing with his demon. The bitch yelps and poofs away. Scoffing, Kleos fazes back into the physical realm.

He tilts head while looking at the large car, with a larger window and ice cream. Putting his paws on the table, Kleos looks through the flavors.

"F҉o҉r҉e҉s҉t҉ b҉e҉r҉r҉y҉..." Kleos literally salivates at while pawing the window.

His demon scoffs, probably going an eye roll. "Two cones of forest berries, please. And one separated red watermelon cone," she orders while putting the money on the table.

Nosaka thanks both the man in the car and his demon, fake smile still in place. Kleos hears distant rumbling of thunder, and numerous yelps and shouts. He cackles and his demon sends him a sharp glare when Nosaka looks away.

"Rin-san," Kleos looks at Nosaka while his demon hums. 

Kleos knows that his demon doesn't want to verbally answer, but she does. "What's up?" Kleos also knows that Nosaka overthinks the stupidest things.

He feels the cooling sensation of ice cream down his throat. It feels nice. Nosaka doesn't answer immediately and Kleos' tail slashes at air. He wonders if his demon took too long to answer that.

She didn't. "There's a match Nishikage and I are going to..." he hesitates. "Would you like to join us?"

Kleos glances at his demon. Anyone short of Eir's human and Edom's angel would miss the narrow of his demon's eyes. "When?" there's no caution in her voice. Kleos likes that. Likes that his demon isn't scared.

"Tomorrow."

Kleos wonders if he can get any blunter. Probably. "Busy," his demon announces, taking a bite of the ice cone.

He feels that, immediately feeling his fangs go freezing. "M҉e҉n҉a҉c҉e҉!" he snarls at his demon, who happily ignores him.

"You're going to the match between Seishou and Raimon, correct?" smugness blends in with a knowing tone.

Kleos bristles. He's not sure if because of his demon or because of himself. Probably both. His demon doesn't respond immediately, instead looking at the ground and eating her ice cream. Kleos wonders if it counts as one ice cream or two... Probably one. That means fifth ice cream in the span of two hours. It's not even that hot!

Nosaka innocently tilts his head to the side. Kleos snarls - unheard by his demon - at how much it reminds him of Eir's human. His fucking human. It makes his fur stand up at the end. Even without her memory, his demon will always fall for the eyes and head tilt.

No matter what, his demon would always fall for it. And she does whatever Eir's human wanted. Kleos knows that. And hates that Nosaka figured out his demon's weakness so easily. He hates it.

Soon, after an internal debate that Kleos really doesn't want to know about. Better that way. His demon sigh - ever so suffering - and nods. Kleos looks at Nosaka. And he hisses, lips pulled back.

The little Emperor has the gall to look somewhat smug. Blank eyes glinting with an almost unseen satisfaction. Kleos hates him _so_ much. Like, not rip him to shreds hate. More like, if you get killed, I'd help them bury you.

He sees a vein pop on his demon's forehead. Thunder rumbles again. "You little fuck..." she spitefully snaps. "You did that on purpose!"

The smile on Nosaka's face would be innocent had his eyes not looked so devilish. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Rin-san."

Kleos contemplates biting him.

~<>~

Yuuma is cautious.

Around Rin-san more so than others. He's not necessary sure why. The manager hardly seems to be much of a threat, with a sharp tongue and a cutting attitude. But nothing much seems to back up whatever threats she makes.

But that only sets him more on edge. He's untrusting towards Rin-san. That much anyone can tell if they're looking close enough. It's completely without reason, some part of his mind reasons. Except, that only makes him more on edge.

Because if there's no reason, why is he so cautious?

Yuuma finds out that he might have some reasons to be cautious during the match between Raimon and Seishou. Originally, he hadn't actually thought Rin-san would agree to go with him and Nishikage. Originally, he had no idea that Rin-san is related to Seishou's first-year striker.

Originally, he thought she came along to watch the game. Not every individual on the pitch.

There's no doubt in his mind that Rin-san is interested in Raimon's #10. It's interesting, Yuuma figures while looking at Rin-san. Teal eyes shift to blue for a moment before fading back to teal. He quickly figures that this is the first match Rin-san's seen live. The manager never bothered to come to their matches, always busy doing something else.

It made Yuuma more cautious around her the next day. When she came to practice and started changing their practice menus to better suit each of them. Yuuma is more on edge with everything Rin-san correctly corrects in his teammates.

Yuuma's eyes stray from Rin-san's face to the pitch, easily landing on Raimon's #10. They've passed the boy earlier, on the way to their seats. He could almost taste the fresh scent of rain. And Yuuma has no idea what sunshine tastes like, but there was also that.

He wonders if Inamori looks like the sun. Or is covered in lightning.

Chasing the thought away, he turns back to the match. Other than Inamori, Yuuma came to watch Haizaki. He's interesting. And Yuuma maybe - perhaps - took a bit too much interest in the two.

Yuuma had no idea that the reason Rin-san didn't come to matches is that she gets fired up. At least, that's what he gathers when the atmosphere around her shifts. The temperature grows with a few degrees. And drops. And continues to elevate every few seconds from then on.

Looking around the field, Yuuma sees colors glitching. It gives him a headache that he refuses to submit to. No matter how much he wants to reach up and rub his forehead, he locks the desire away. Auras of different players flicker. Like a second skin, they cling to players.

Yuuma's eyes immediately skip to Inamori, who's surrounded by little flying things. He can't tell if they're birds or butterflies. His gaze flicker over to Haizaki, dark palettes glitch around the first year. Blood-reds, night-blues, dark purples blending together. The auras themselves are far more eye-catching than the rest.

The two stood out like swans among ducks for the lack of better cooperation.

Glancing back at Rin-san, he takes a quick mental note to ask her about why her veins are kinda rainbow. And very, very visible. Yuuma is a hundred percent sure that that isn't normal. Other than the peripheral vascular system, it's no normal - over overly healthy - for veins to be very visible. Not to mention rainbow. Or glowing.

Blood might have plasma in it, but not enough to make it look almost luminescence. He makes another mental note to ask her if it can be considered bioluminescence or chemiluminescence. Probably a bit of both...

The veins seem to be slightly iridescence. Going from imperial red - which shines through Rin-san's white t-shirt - to a very pale, but still visible, yellow at her fingertips. Shades of red fade into shades of purple, going from red-violet to purple-blue. Yuuma recognizes a shade of Spanish blue which moves to ice blue then cyan. Cyan shifts to green down Rin-san's arms, which fades into yellow.

The effect lasts about ten seconds at most before all veins seem to squirm and retreat into Rin-san's heart. A rainbow glow lasts a second longer around her heart before completely giving way to nothingness.

Yuuma wonders if anyone took notice of the sudden glow from their side of the stadium. There's no one close to them, by some twenty rows down. Glancing from the corner of his eye - and promptly clenches his fist to stop himself from rubbing his temples - he takes note of how tense Nishikage is.

Thinking about it, he wonders how Nishikage's seen the whole thing from behind them... His eyes trail back to Rin-san's face. He blinks, eyes widen a fraction. There are blue veins crawling from the somewhere behind Rin-san's hairline to under her eyes. Which are glowing. Again. They're also glinting with something Yuuma would rather not put a name to.

The temperature rises again. Then drops.

It stills though, pretty soon too. He feels slightly confused about the sour taste on his tongue. (He pushes the feeling to the back of his head.) Refusing to bring it up, Yuuma will admit that chasing Rin-san away would be stupid. Because other than Nishikage, she's one of the few people he can call a friend. Or, more exactly, one of the only people that can listen to his chatter.

Pointing out what had happed would only serve to make the manager uncomfortable. It might even end their friendship as it is. He's not sure he'd want her to pull away, not after she basically dragged him into playing soccer. Not that he wouldn't have joined the soccer club anyway, but Rin-san certainly sped up the process.

He'd admit to no one that the first time he's seen a soccer match, it was the finals of the Football Frontier, four years ago. Teikoku versus another team that hasn't made it past the preliminaries during the last three years. It was a rather close match, Teikoku managing to score a goal in the last three minutes of the game.

Yuuma doubts he'll ever forget seeing Rin-san on that field. Flanked by half of the opponent's team, she did manage to get that goal. Yuuma will not admit - even over his head body - that he has watched the video of that move. Nor will he admit to trying to copying it.

Getting the feeling that he's being watched, Yuuma subtly glances around him. Rin-san's staring at the ceiling with her eyes closed, he notices the veins inching back. Nishikage's eyes are fixed on the pitch, moving from one side of the field to the other.

Blocking out the commentator's introduction of the teams, Yuuma watches while the players of said teams get into their respective positions.

Something akin to thunder rumbles when the whistle gets blown. The temperature rises a few degrees, then drops. Then escalates until it's back to normal. He refuses to pay too much attention to it.

The match starts with Raimon in the possession of the ball. Raimon's #9 - slightly - clumsily dribbles pass Seishou Gakuen's offense. Yuuma watching with how much grace Inamori receives a pass from the other forward. While he would have opted for something more tactical, Inamori feints while getting away from Seishou's captain and another defender.

There's an unfamiliar rush of pride in him. It makes his throat constrict and his chest ache. Swallowing past the feeling, Yuuma focuses - slightly blurry visioned though - on the match.

Inamori passes to Raimon's #11.

"What the fuck..."

Yuuma hums in agreement with Rin-san's curse. He had zero way of predicting that the tiny forward would do. And he feels his heart skip a bit. Confusion clouds his mind for a second, because 'is he getting a heart condition too?'

That's worrisome.

"Now, that's something," he notes, a thoughtful tone to his voice. He ignores Nishikage's gaze on his back because it's gone a second later.

Rin-san scoffs. "It's a cluster-fuck is what it is," she spits.

He shrugs, not agreeing nor disagreeing with the firey manager. Because he really doesn't. He's somewhere in between 'What the fuck is that?!' and 'Holy mother of God, that's cool!'. As always, he pushes the more childish side of himself at the back of his head and forgets it exists.

It's not he doesn't know what it is. He's seen all the matches of the FF, both from last year and the year before that. He notes that it's somewhat weaker than Gouenji-san's was about a year back. Despite that, he's still a little impressed by it. Other than Mikage Sennou's Shimozuru Arata and the Mukata triplets and their Back Tornados (he's not sure that count), there's no one else that has used Fire Tornado expect Gouenji-san.

Yuuma blinks when he feeling the air ripple a bit. Looking at the source, his eyes land on Haizaki, who stands frozen while the hissatsu flies past him. The score changes to 1-0 for Raimon thanks to the goal.

He watches - somewhat concerned - when Haizaki throws his hands in the air, tilting his head back over his shoulders. Yuuma's too far to make out the actual works that he says, but he thinks it's nothing good. Not when the air ripples again while Haizaki's shoulders shake with a burst of slightly maniacal laughter. A part of his clenches, while another worries about Raimon.

Deciding to break the silence, Yuuma speaks up. "Their eyes..." he - of course - doesn't articulate after that.

While he's not looking at either Rin-san or Nishikage, he can feel their eyes burning into his side and back respectively. His vision is getting a bit more unfocused. Eyes focused on the pitch, he kinda refuses to look at them.

"What about it?" Nishikage pipes up, an almost unnoticeable confusion in his voice.

Mentally trying to put it into words, he fails. Big time. "Playing soccer..." he pauses, tone still detached. "They find it fun."

It feels wrong as soon as it leaves his mouth for some reason. Soccer and 'fun' are supposed to be completely different things that have nothing in common with one another.

Another rumble. And as usual, when the subject is brought up, Rin-san keeps quiet.

Nishikage is quick to deny. "That can't be the case," there's an unwavering tone to his voice that settles something in Yuuma.

And makes something else stir painfully in his chest. "Right?" he nonchalantly enquires, toughening through the pain in his chest. He's somewhat glad that no one answers him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hati/Kleos/Skoll/Akimitsu speech: "That son of a..." "Calm down!" "Can I shove my tail in his mouth?" "Forest berry..." "Menace!"  
> "Right back at you, bitch." "You're lucky your demon over there remembers shit,"  
> "I'll rip them a new one!"
> 
> We're finally finding out who Lin gets their personality from. Also, Camelia is Lin's middle name for anyone that got confused about that.


	7. Ego te provoco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I dare you, Yukine-senpai. Are you going to back out of it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: gore farther down. Mentions of death and method of killing.
> 
> Last chapter there were three POV shifts between three characters. This chapter will only feature two POVs, both from two OC's of mine. The first of which is Aphrodi's mom and the second being Yukine. After all the Nosaka part of the last chapter I'm enjoying this.
> 
> Kleos was fun to shape because he is kinda there but isn't at the same time. So, it's mostly a third person POV that doesn't really add much to the current events but the ones that took place before.
> 
> To make something clear, Yukine doesn't care about any kind of manners unless it's absolutely obligatory. He enjoys doing things his way, and will tell anyone to 'fuck off' if they try to do anything about it. Also, Yukine's bento isn't in any sense balanced and more like, 'I wanna eat, I'll eat that'.

Mi-Rae is having a crap day. To make things worse, Boss-bitch sent her home early after she got nicked by three stay bullets during an armed drug burst. Just three! And it wasn't like Mi-Rae lost too much blood, or got nicked on any major veins. Nope. Just three tiny nicks that won't probably even freaking scar.

Thank fuck for Haizaki though. Otherwise, Sakuma would have most fucking definitely made her take the week off. Also, thank fuck for blackmail material. And long-time friendships otherwise Mi-Rae would have gotten fired.

When Sakuma quite literally kicks her out of the car with a threat of suspension, Mi-Rae had laughed it off. Because treating it have Sakuma's head if she gets herself killed while she's off-duty.

"이게 대체 뭐야?" Mi-Rae basically spits out after walking into the kitchen.

(A.N.: I am not a native Korean speaker, nor do I study Korean. At all. If there are any people out there that read this, please correct me. It's meant to say 'What the hell is this?' but everywhere I looked I got other results.)

Yukine raises his left hand in a half-assed greeting, waving it a bit. Mi-Rae doesn't question the lack of bandages on his arm, other than the low light from the lightbulb, it's pretty dark.

What she doesn't - can't - ignore is the existence of a tiny-ass brat that she sort recognizes from somewhere. Pushing that thought away, Mi-Rae attempts to calm down. Because for fuck's sake! Why is there a fucking kid in her fucking kitchen?!

And just like that, Mi-Rae's crap day turned crappier.

After somehow managing to get the explanation out of Yukine, she bangs her head on the table. The brat jumps, freaking obviously frightened. Taking a deep breath, Mi-Rae pushed her head out of her face while looking at the kid.

Japanese comes harder than English would have. "You stay here," she bites out, the brat sits straighter. "I'll ask 'round. If you pop up on a fucking file, you're going to make a statement at HQ."

The brat nods. Mi-Rae figures that he's kinda scared shit-less. Not that she blames the brat. She's not a people person. Never has been never will be. People persons socialize and basically feed off standing around other people and talking. She hates that. Hates talking to other people and making small talk.

Yukine scribbles something on his notebook and gets up. Mi-Rae takes one look at the very messy writing and scoffs. The brat looks confused after peaking over her shoulder. She wonders why... Either he can't read or doesn't understand Yukine's shit writing. Both are equally possible.

It took Mi-Rae a year to get the hang of reading Yukine's writing. The kid just doesn't know how to write legibly. Not that she blames him.

"Kid's going to make tea," she shrugs.

Two days later, Mi-Rae is working through the adoption papers. Because that's her fucking luck. Because - of fucking course - Yukine picked up the same fucking brat that Sakuma's been searching for since the fucking drug bust that she got nicked in.

Said brat used to get used by the fuckers that he can't even fucking call _parents_. Deliver a little there, a little here, the brat knows more about fucking drugs and alcohol than Mi-Rae does. Of course, that means she's got every fucking right to pull the abusive household card and jump to adoption.

And she most certainly pulls favors here and there. That Girikanan fucker always happy to make sure children aren't in abusive homes. Yukine was also happy to help by contacting said fucker.

Now, one thing Mi-Rae is shit at is talking to people. People also means her kid. So Terumi's in for a surprise Friday. A surprise he most definitely won't enjoy but Mi-Rae will probably tell him to suck it up and be grateful the brat isn't sharing a room with him.

She mentally thanks Genda for watching over the brat while she's at work. The woman is a gift from the Gods and no one can convince Mi-Rae otherwise. Of course, she'd take the brat off Genda's hands as soon as the fucking papers are done. And next fucking term the brat's going to elementary so Mi-Rae hopes it's going to go okay.

Friday comes faster than Mi-Rae would have liked. And she's snappy so, of course, she and Boss-bitch got into an argument over wherever or not a house arrest would need an SAT unit. She insisted that they most definitely should get precautions because the fucker was most definitely armed - she was right. Sakuma - whose eye bags were more visible than usual - argued against it because it was one fucking guy!

Of course, Boss-bitch almost got shot in the fucking heart. Thank fuck for heavy vests otherwise they'd be without a fucking decent boss, Haizaki without a wife, and their little brats without a mom.

Mi-Rae enjoyed the show that followed. Fuck all the DA's office for saying that Haizaki can't hold her own. She knows how wrong that is, has seen the woman shoot people. Has shivered at the impossibly perfect aim Haizaki has. What most probably miss, is that Haizaki has a backbone strong enough to have a relationship with Sakuma.

Speaking from experience, Mi-Rae knows how fuck bull-headed Sakuma is. And how hard she is to handle. For fuck's sake, she knows the woman since their days in the academy! And the bitch still won't fucking listen to her.

"Did you take a dive in the river?" she squints after opening the door at eight that night.

Terumi angrily brushes past her, hair sticking to his body. "It's raining, eomma," he sighs, throwing off his shoes and leaving his bag.

Mi-Rae smirks. "And ya forgot to bring an umbrella, huh?"

"Yes," the kid bites, glaring at her and stomping to the bathroom.

Rolling her eyes, Mi-Rae walking into the living room. She leans against the door, watching while Yukine happily shows the brat how to fingerspell. Unlike Terumi, Mi-Rae never had the patience for it. Sure, it's a useful skill, but she doesn't need it very much. Translating from Korean to Japanese and back is hard enough sometimes. And her memory is shit so remembering what sign means what would be impossible.

As she predicted though, Terumi almost bursts a vein when he walks into the living room. Yukine, as always, mutely gives him a wave, smiling a bit lopsided. The brat hides behind Yukine, who looks a bit confused. His reaction has Mi-Rae snorting into her hand.

After a whole bunch of explaining, which ended with yelling, Mi-Rae smirks when Terumi just accepts the situation. Later - when the kids finally pipe down - she starts going through some cases Himura pushed on her.

She's not really that confused when Terumi leaves Sunday morning. Her kid's been buried in books since he got home, and Yukine is quick to be as helpful as he can be. Which really isn't that much and only serves to confuse Terumi though to the extensive explication that neither of them seems to understand too well.

That fucking means what she has to go with Yukine and the brat to the match at ten. Ten! In the fucking morning on her fucking free day at that! Not that she's complaining. Too much anyway.

Haizaki's brat is playing on one team. And on the other... Mi-Rae is worried about Seishou Gakuen if Haruka's brat is playing. On that note, _Irina_ 's brat might be a better way to put it. Shaking that particular thought away, she glances in the rear mirror to look at the brat and Yukine.

Yukine's just as much of Irina's brat as that kid is... Mi-Rae grips the steering wheel harder and shakes her head. No. Yukine's nothing like the others though to the time of his arrival in the Girikanan family. Too late for Irina to have any time to actually sink her claws in him yet. But still soon enough for him get away unscratched.

She's mostly thankful that the brat took a shine to Yukine, following her like a tiny duckling. That means Mi-Rae doesn't have to worry about the brat too much. Although it might also mean she's going to have to worry more about Yukine's horrible navigation skills.

The brat doesn't seem all that interested in soccer. But Yukine's making them go to Rairaiken, so the brat's probably in it for the food. Not that Mi-Rae blames him. Hibiki might be a pain, but the man knows how to cook. Though Mi-Rae wonders what would happen if the brat meets Fudou and the mohawk-brat is cooking.

It's pretty fucking obvious that the brat likes Yukine more than he likes her or Terumi. Then again, kids usually like Yukine because of the tranquility he has. Kids like that sort of thing, especially ones with not so good uprisings. Plus, Mi-Rae caught the kid wolfing down anything Yukine makes, so food is probably a plus.

Probably also the fact that the brat seems to be curious and likes learning. And Yukine has enough patience to teach him anything he's curious about. Sign language is kinda difficult without having any other means of communication. Because the brat doesn't understand whatever Yukine writes. And Mi-Rae can't really translate everything either.

Brat probably likes Terumi less than he likes her. Her kid snapped at him whenever the brat came into Terumi's five feet radius. Though Mi-Rae did hear the brat asking about her kid's wings to Yukine. The only answer he got was a shrug.

The only actual conversation that Terumi and Masaki had throughout her kid's stay was related to Yukine. Mi-Rae didn't listen in on that one, because as thin as the walls are, they deserve some privacy.

~<>~

Yukine pulls out a bento the second he sits. Mi-Rae throws him an amused look which he pointedly ignores. Masaki winces a bit when he stabs a takoyaki ball. Just before stuffing the takoyaki, he blinks.

Looking up, his eyes meet dead grey ones. Nodding, Yukine stuffs the takoyaki in his mouth. He's very much trying to ignore the iron-taste scent that burns his nose.

Strawberry nods back. He quickly notices that he's still standing and gestures to the seat beside him. Smile slowly curling on pale lips, Strawberry sits beside him. Yukine looks at his companion only to blink and stab another takoyaki.

Thankfully, Strawberry remains somewhat unaware of the awkward exchange between Yukine and Seiya. "Hello," the pink-haired boy greets him.

Yukine snaps his head around at Masaki's yelp, as well as Mi-Rae's shout of protest. The teal-haired boy is sitting on Mi-Rae's lap, shuddering just a bit. Putting down his chopstick, Yukine pokes the kid in the back lightly, tilting his head.

Mi-Rae rolls her eyes. "Hey, brat," she pokes the kid in the shoulder. "Get off."

Masaki doesn't actually sit back on his seat, rather just looks at Strawberry and Seiya and blinks a couple of times. Yukine blinks before picking back his chopstick and eating another takoyaki. <Good...>

Glancing at Masaki, Yukine picks up the other chopstick and stuffs a coconut shrimp in his mouth. It's not something he makes often, mostly because it takes some time for the shrimp to get crunchy. But he likes it, and he woke up at four so he had enough time to make it.

"Why are you wearing a crown?" Yukine looks at Masaki, who seems to be slightly horrified of what he had just blurted out.

Stuffing another shrimp in his mouth, he glances at Strawberry, who's expression is pinched and slightly baffled. "Pardon?" the iron scent gets heavier when he talks, Yukine notices and wolfs down a tiny piece of salmon steak to avoid thinking about it. "Crown?" Strawberry tilts his head.

"Can't ya brats pipe down?" Mi-Rae snaps, effectively cutting off Masaki.

Scoffing, the teal-haired boy sits back between Yukine and the policewoman. "Name's Kariya Masaki," he announces while crossing his arms.

A small smile curls on Strawberry's lips. "My name is Nosaka Yuuma," he introduces himself, before gesturing to Seiya. "And this is Nishikage Seiya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He expectedly turns to Yukine, who blinks and stuffs another piece of something in his mouth. Smoked salmon sushi with very little rice... Not his usual go-to thing but it's edible and he's nervous.

"Oh," he looks at Mi-Rae, who is facepalming. "Yukine doesn't talk when there's adults around," she reasons at which Yukine nods. "The name's Afuro Mi-Rae, and that little brat," pointing at him, which makes him give her a glare, "is Kurosaki Yukine."

Yukine stuffs some more whatever in his mouth. He's very happy ignoring the way his ears are burning, thank you very much. Mentally celebrating, he wolfs down a piece of - for some reason unknown to him - raw salmon sushi while the whistle blows.

"Do you only have fish?"

He jumps, looking at Strawberry. Shakes his head, Yukine points with his chopsticks at the other bentos. He holds up four fingers and gestures to his chopsticks.

Nosaka tilts his head. "Do you know how to fingerspell?" eyes wide and smile threatening to break on his face, Yukine hurriedly nods. "I am not fluent, but it's certainly helpful...?"

\- _you shy_ \- Yukine fingerspells with one hand while stuffing another smoked salmon steak piece in his mouth with his other. JSP comes harder than ASL, so he has to do the motions again, slower, and in Japenese.

Strawberry nods. "I am not..." that convinces him of nothing. "Just a bit ill-informed on the subject of sign language."

Mutely humming, Yukine fingerspells again - _you can eat_ \- he offers and turns back to the game after handing the taller a pair of chopsticks. And he openly gaps.

Closing his mouth, Yukine works his jaw for a bit, biting the inside of his lower lip. Fire Tornado had been Shuuya-chan's signature move, as well as Lina after she learned it. It's certainly weird to see anyone else using it. Like, sure, he's seen Shimozuru copy Fire Tornado... But this isn't Mikage Sennou, and that isn't Shimozuru.

It's impressive... And almost like Yuuki-chin had been with Mamoru. He feels the corner of his mouth twitch upward before shoving a - thank God - smoked salmon sushi in his mouth.

The forward's Fire Tornado takes all the stadium by surprise and scores the first goal of the match, for Raimon. He's thankful that Strawberry took the bento from his lap because spilling all the fish would be bad. Fear and bitter anger smolder the happiness he felt at the goal.

Haizaki Ryouhei should not be underestimated normally, but without Lina to teach him how to be _good_ , the kid's a loose cannon. And not in a good way. Not in a good way even for his teammates.

Pulling up the next bento, Yukine ignores Strawberry's inquisitive look while opening it. He quickly wolfs down a fried cauliflower. Maybe he should stop growing him on the balcony though...

Though a bit uncertain, Strawberry takes a raw baby carrot. Yukine silently cackling into his hand at the look on his face afterward.

\- _d ipped in vinaigrette_ \- he fingerspells slowly, popping a slice of pickled cauliflower in his mouth, enjoying the spicy feeling from it. - _away from these_ \- he mentions at the slightly pinkish cauliflower - _spicy_ \- .

Strawberry nods, going back to eating some coconut shrimp. Yukine smiles while shoving some french fries in his mouth after dipping them in hot ketchup. He kinda... blacks out the rest of the match after looking at the field to see Seishou Gakuen using Death Zone. He kinda curses Kidou too for teaching them that.

He barely feels the poke on their shoulder while staring at the bento on his lap, ears dead to the world around him. Reaching over to the other bento, Yukine stuffs a salmon steak in his mouth before relaxing. He closes his eyes for a moment.

ǟʊʀǟ.

A distorted voice sounds from behind his ears. Eyes snapping open, Yukine chokes on water, feels it shoving its way in his lungs. It stops as soon as a hand wraps loosely around his neck.

"ǟʀɛ ʏօʊ ɦǟʋɨռɢ ʄʊռ?" the same distorted voice is accompanied by the scent of blood while it cackles. The sound echoes for a bit, distorting it even more.

Yukine snarls, twisting around. He's somewhat thankful that the owner of the voice allows him to. White eyes stare at him, blood dripping down paper-thin cheeks and dissolving into the water around them. Hair tousled and messy, dirty with ancient grim, burned at the tips. Lips smeared with blood. The tunic that the woman once wore thorned to shreds - burned robes and shattered armor - bloody spots over where her heart would be.

He will never get over the fact that the body has been stabbed. Even by slowly lowering his eyes, Yukine can see the still bleeding stump where they took off her hand. Before repeated stabbing her in the heart. Hanged her on a cross, and burned her corpse.

Gulping when the woman - creature - tighten its hold on his neck, Yukine shakes his head. "No," air bubbles accompany his words.

The creature tilts its head, white eye sockets wide and unblinking. "աɦʏ ռօȶ?" cracked lips stretch into a sickening smile. "ǟʍ ɨ ռօȶ քʀɛȶȶʏ? աɛ ʊֆɛɖ ȶօ ɮɛ ֆօ քʀɛȶȶʏ..."

The water around them rattles, sand moving underneath them. "Cut it out..." he manages to hiss through gritted teeth. "Eir. Cut it-"

The sick smile falls, getting replaced by an equally sickly sweet pout. "ʏօʊ ǟʀɛ ռօ ʄʊռ, ɦʊʍǟռ," Eir spats out _human_ , blood pouring out of her mouth and into the water. The water seems to vibrate for a moment.

"I won't repeat, Eir," he snaps, even as the creature pulls him closer, and Yukine gags at the scent of blood. For a single moment, he lets what little electricity he has, loose.

The reaction is instant.

Eir screams bloody murder and throws herself away from him. The illusion flickers while Yukine greedily gulps at the water. Crazed white eyes stare into his own. A quick swing of the massive tail fin brings Eir face-to-face with him, making him gulp for a different reason.

Faced with Eir's bloody 1.5 inches long fangs, he'd be quivering if he didn't know better. "ռɛǟȶ ȶʀɨƈӄ," the shark-orca comments.

Yukine shakes his head. "Let me out, Eir," he doesn't order per se. He's not stupid enough to order her.

A giant head shake. "ʏօʊ ǟʀɛ ֆȶʊƈӄ աɨȶɦ ʍɛ."

"Yeah," he shrugs, swimming back a bit farther from Eir. "That ain' gonna change. Let me out."

A bloody sigh pulls out of the shark-orca's mouth. "ɢɛȶ ʟօֆȶ," Eir orders, snapping around. He barely feels the brush of her scared tail against his front. "ʏօʊ ӄռօա ȶɦɛ աǟʏ օʊȶ."

Nodding, Yukine turns and swims away. He makes a point of ignoring the rattle of rusted chains. No matter how much it makes him want to swim faster and makes his skin crawl. Persimmon orange eyes follow him from a bit farther away, just as soulless as Eir's. No pupils nor white of the eye. Just pure orange depths.

He easily opens his eyes after stepping out of his _aura_. The match is already half done and Yukine figures it's half time. Looking down, he notices just how half of everything is already gone. Which is good, he made food for it to be eaten.

"Your food is very good," he nods while looking at Strawberry, who's smiling a bit at him.

Stuffing a pickle in his mouth, Yukine fingerspells with one hand - _want to eat dessert after match_ \- .

Strawberry brightens considerately at the notion of dessert, eagerly nodding. Yukine smiles while shoving something with fish in his mouth. He moans mentally, he should really cook Tinapa more often.

Yukine's cursing Haizaki by the time the match ends. In about twelve sign languages if he's honest. But he's not and he's sure he added something from Romanian so he'll say fifteen at least. Because it's too over the freaking top!

Making up an excuse, Yukine walks away from his group. If Mi-Rae throws him a suspicious look, well, only they'll know. He gets pretty far from anyone before letting out what little anger built up his gut out.

The hallway wall had to suffer the consequences of the tiny outburst. Yukine winces while pulling his left away from the wall, feeling the abused skin why slowly clenching and unclenching his fist. The pain could have been worse. Then again, he looks at the wall, he didn't actually dent the poor thing.

But it doesn't actually do much for his pissy mood. His right palm burns but he doesn't care very much. The bandages already there cover it up too well for him to even think about undoing them. Especially when he doesn't have any more bandages on him.

"You've been avoiding me."

Cold sweat drips down his back before he turns his head to look at whoever approached him. Not that the voice isn't a tell-tail of it, but Yukine's never been good with voices. Then his fight or flight reflex puts him on his toes, reading to bold at a moment's notice. He freaking forgot the last time he's been around the Zaizen girl. Maybe that one time Arashi-san put Mi-Rae as a bodyguard for Touko-chan's dad...

Taking a shaky breath, Yukine forces himself to cool down. Crossing his arms over his front, he leans his back against the wall as Touko-chan walks in front of him. The sleek, black lawyer suit that the ginger wear wouldn't actually fit anyone but her. The confidant look on her face tells Yukine that she'd rather punch him than not get what she wants.

And Yukine's been there. And he knows how well Touko-chan can punch.

"Heya..." Yukine slowly drawls a greeting, thankful for the no adults in the area. Though he hadn't been careful enough and Touko-chan's eyes narrow, probably picking on the defensive undertone in his voice.

Blinking slowly, Yukine sees Touko-chan's gaze zooming on his arms. More exactly, his middle finger which is slowly tapping on his arm. Almost bored. But of course, the ginger's too freaking too smart for that. And knows all of his tells, which is a little problematic.

Not that Yukine can't lie to her. He can lie to anyone. But Touko-chan - excluding Sein and Lina - is probably the only person allowed to say that she knows Yukine just as well as Terumi-chan. Though that didn't stop him from trying to annoy her enough to get into a fight. She's the only person - other than Mamoru or Aki-chin - that can take a punch.

There's also the matter of Touko-chan calling him a girl during their first meeting. So they both kinda ended up having to get bandages. Most people are happy not thinking too much about his gender. With which Yukine completely cool with, because it gets him sweets on both Valentine's Day and White Day. Not that Yukine doesn't wear a t-shirt that says ' _No chocolates. Please be inventive_ ' a day before both celebrations.

"Anythin' I can do ya for?" Yukine drawls out again after Touko-chan gives him a curt replay to his greeting.

The ginger shrugs, slowly peeling off one of her gloves. "It's good to see you again, Yukine-senpai," Touko-chan holds out her ungloved hand to him.

Yukine feels a chill go down his spine as a faint purple light glows underneath. He pushes the reaction that wants to force its way to the back of his mind. Lazily, he lowers his arms from where they were crossed and wraps his hand - his left, because - of course - Touko-chan would consider his dislike for formalities - around Touko-chan's.

"Same," he answers, dropping his arm after giving the ginger's hand a light squeeze. "Now... What do ya want me for?"

A slight narrow of Touko-chan's eyes signs that she does want something. "Play with Raimon's new team."

He almost chokes at that, on air. Instead, Yukine blinks a couple of times, lazily to cover up the more violent reaction he almost gave. "Can ya repeat?"

Pushing away from the wall, Yukine looks slightly down at Touko-chan. "Play with Raimon's new soccer team," the ginger repeats slowly, as though explaining to a baby something. Yukine picks up on the slightly exasperated undertone in her voice. "They're going to get sponsored by a firm. That means that they aren't going back to Inakunijima, but rather staying here. You're good at soccer, and you like it."

Shaking his head, Yukine hides a yawn behind his hand. "I don' think I'll do that," he turns on his heels and starts walking down the hallway.

"I dare you, Yukine-senpai."

The words stop him dead in his tracks. "Huh?" looking over his shoulder, Yukine meets Touko-chan's eyes.

"Are you actually go to back out of it? Out of soccer?" the ginger's sharp tongue shines through.

Rolling back his shoulders, he straightens a bit. "'m gonna sleep on it," he offers, lips curling upward at the end.

Touko-chan boldly smiles at him. "I knew we'd come to an agreement."

He scoffs at the look of pure satisfaction in the ginger's grey eyes. "Catch ya later," he offers over his shoulder. "Gotta catch up with some people."

"The exit's the other way!" the Zaizen cackles.

"Shut up!" Yukine's ears feel warm while he snaps, as well as his cheeks. "I knew that!" he stomps past the still laughing girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yukine: Hope ya enjoyed this. *tries to walk away*  
> Lin: *grabs him* You'll have to forgive Songbird's inability to talk to people. He's shy.  
> Yukine: *blushing* Am not!  
> Lin: *nods and pats his head* Totally shy. What Songbird meant, is that we hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Please comment and leave kudos because they help the author know they have support. See ya next chapter people.


	8. Velle est posse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If there is a will, there is a way, my dear. And I have a will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will start off in Nosaka's POV, continuing right where chapter six left off. The second POV will from Haizaki's. This is pretty short. Like, in contrast to the last few chapters it's short. And not really that well thought. The first part with Nosaka I'm very proud of, the second... Not so much, but you know, I'll work with it.

Yuuma glances at Rin-san when the manager straightens up. "Something the matter?" teal eyes glance his way for a moment before returning to the pitch.

"Raimon's fucked," is all Rin-san answers with while three of Seishou's players perform a hissatsu that is awfully familiar. "That's Teikoku Gakuen's Death Zone."

Nodding, he turns back to the match to watch the damage. It's a miracle that any of Raimon's players get back up after the powerful hissatsu. The air buzzes constantly, coming to screeching halts for a moment before starting again. It's not really as annoying as the cheering and roaring of the crowd. It calms down his headache somewhat, makes it ignorable. Makes it easy for Yuuma not to hurl up his breakfast.

Still, Rin-san's like a too tightly strung guitar string, waiting to snap. Yuuma isn't sure why. Had Rin-san started liking Raimon so much? Or was it the fact that Haizaki is the one doing the tormenting? He's not really sure he wants to know the answers to the questions. Rin-san is already infamous for leaving places that don't suit her tastes.

Teikoku Gakuen first for whatever felony Kageyama Reiji committed. He doesn't have the clearance to know the details as they've never been released to the public. Leaving Outei is impossible, especially for Rin-san. Especially after everything that she doesn't know but could and would most certainly give to her aunt. Yuuma only met Sakuma Arashi once and wished he never had.

The woman is a queen and she doesn't care who she stumps on to get what she wants. The person she stumped on that day was Yuuma. And she only allowed him to get up after promising to help her with taking down project Ares. Because that was three days ago when he found out. About that...

He halts that train before it falls off the tracks.

The fifth goal of the match is followed by the half-time whistle. 4-1 for Seishou. Yuuma wonders just how much they'll widen the gap by the time the match ends.

The air seems to turn somewhat smokey. He pushes down the urge to cough.

"You alright, Yuuma-chan?"

Of course, Rin-san noticed his momentary convulsion. Yuuma nods, not looking at the manager more than to throw her a glance. He stops to blinks and stares. Elbows settled on her knees, Rin-san is aggressively chewing on her left thumb while her right arm is hanging loosely between her knees. Yuuma glances at her right heel, which is tapping the ground rapidly.

He knows of a couple of Rin-san's nervous habits, but most of the time they're hectic. Not slightly organized and held back with titanium chains. Not so not obvious and normal-looking. It's utterly disturbing.

Still focused on the pitch, Rin-san doesn't even glance at him when Yuuma pokes her shoulder. He's somewhat glad that she stops chewing on her thumb long enough to swat his arm away from her. Eyed the manager's neck, he reaches a hand and presses two fingers against the - now whitish, glowing - vein on the side of her neck.

Now, normally, Rin-san would remove his hand, ruffle his hair and tell him to no do that. Now? The manager doesn't even look his way for a second. He gets distracted from that thought by the light shock from his fingertips. Goosebumps pop on his arm and the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

Naturally, Yuuma knows that the manager's heartbeat is abnormally fast on a normal occasion. But, it's faster somehow. The beats blending together in a way that makes him wonder just how much of anything would it take to tire out Rin-san. Could she even be tired out? Is that a possibility? Like, is it really? Yuuma isn't sure, and if Rin-san moves because she finds out about Ares... Then that could potentially mean that there's a friend turned enemy that can't be tired out.

Stuck in his thoughts, Yuuma doesn't notice the stadium fading around him. He startles a bit at the sound of loud rumbling. Looking around, he finds that he's sort of no longer in the stadium. He takes exactly one step before the wind howls around him, almost knocking him over. The ground beneath him is stone, and the sky is covered in clouds and flashes with lightning, the wind roars again past him. But there's no rain.

Looking to the side, Yuuma thinks he might have spotted a bright, sunny spot somewhere in the distance. The rumbling intensifies, turning his attention to the sky.

"L҉e҉a҉v҉e҉!" a voice roars from somewhere behind him.

Yuuma glances behind him, and accidentally makes eye contact with a pair of heterochromatic eyes. One a stone grey, the other a sunny yellow. Suppressing a shudder, he blinks.

And he does so again to focus on Rin-san's face. Concerned teal eyes stare at him while the manager is holding his hand, which is clenched. Yuuma notices that his knuckles are white. He takes note of the light-red scratch marks lines on Rin-san's neck.

Glancing sideways, he sees Seishou's merciless attacks on Raimon's team and goal. Gaze shifting to the scoreboard, he notices that it's already second half... He's been over there - where ever that was - almost an entire half... And actual entire half.

"Yuuma!" the sound of his first name coupled with Rin-san's sharp tone, snaps him out of spiraling down that lane. "Focus, dumbass."

He nods, looking at Rin-san. The manager's holding her forehead and shaking her head. "I am fine," he attempts to reassure them because Nishikage's grip on his shoulder is a bit painful. "I spaced out for a second there, nothing worth worrying about."

"It shows that you don't have many friends," the third-year bluntly insults him, turning back to the match.

"Sakuma-san..." Nishikage's hesitance is absolutely plausible. "Nosaka-san, are you really alright?" the goalkeeper turns back to him.

Throwing a smile over his shoulder, Yuuma lies through his teeth. "Of course I am," Rin-san's scoff speaks volumes.

As does the mumbled 'bullshit' from the manager. Nishikage doesn't look utterly convinced by his statement either but thankfully drops the subject. Well, he mentally shrugs, it's not like he can force them to believe him. Turning back to the match, Yuuma watches as Haizaki gets more and more agitated with every time Raimon's players get back up.

Even from his seat, Yuuma can see the insane grin pulling at Haizaki's lips. It falls into a vicious snarl every now and then before returning full force.

<It's not like this will break them.>

Yuuma internally shudders, a chill going down his spine. <What the...> He's startled by his own thought, and something thorny-feeling grips at his chest. It's not really a surprise that Raimon loses some of their vigor during the ruthless attacks. But they don't get overly depressive, which he thinks it's a good thing.

While from a tactical standpoint, Yuuma is obviously aware of how behind Raimon is in terms of power and speed when compared to Seishou. From a personal point that Yuuma forgot he had, he's absolutely positive that with more training and experience, Raimon could win.

Not that that changes how unreachable Seishou is at the given moment for them.

It's not even close to entertaining to see Inamori trying to lift the spirits of his teammates. Yuuma can tell just how well it's _not_ working. The first half already ended with 4-1 for Seishou. Some part of him bitterly laughs. (He ignores it.)

The second half ends a few seconds after Haizaki uses a hissatsu technique - Overhead Penguin - to score the 11th goal of the match. Seishou's tenth goal... Four goals before half time and then six after half time ended.

"That was boring," Rin-san comments when the final whistle blows. "And just as fucking expected," after stretching her hands above her, the manager pulls out her phone.

"Agree," Yuuma glances at Nishikage, who's nodding. "The results were as expected."

Looking at the smirk on Rin-san's face, Yuuma somehow doubts that's what she was talking about. He doesn't quite want to know what she's referring to if he's honest. The manager is morally ambiguous at best. And borderline psychotic at worse.

He turns to Nishikage. "While that is true..." pausing, he sees the third-year glance at him while he thinks over his next words carefully. "Can you look into Raimon a bit for me, Nishikage?" or not.

The first-year goalkeeper agrees easily, as he always does these days. "Understood," he verbally confirms.

"I'll help," they both look at Rin-san, somewhat startled. "I took a little interest in them."

Nodding, Yuuma turns to the pitch. Looking around for a second, he's slightly disturbed by how quickly he finds Inamori. Tilting his head, he blinks in confusion. There are tiny, little, flying things around Inamori.

<What in the world...>

~<>~

Ryouhei glares at the other team. The team he literally just obliterated and yet they're still standing and walking towards the exit. Inamori - that's the forward's name from what he gathered - smiles at him when he catches his eyes. A vein pops on his forehead while he snarls, preparing to stomp over to the guy and attempt to beat something in him. Preferably some form of self-preservation. Because the fucking moron obviously lacked it!

He doesn't stomp over, instead swirls around and narrows his eyes at Otonashi, whose hand is raised as though she was about to freaking tap him. "What?" snapping at people usually makes them go away.

Emphasis on the 'usually'. Otonashi gives him an eye roll and hands him his phone. "It kept ringing," the girl supplies before turning to the rest of the guys. 

Rolling his eyes, Ryouhei checks his texts history. Bypassing the freakishly long security that his stepmom put on his phone gets easier every time he does it. Not that he's complaining much about it. Kidou has weird habits about hacking into their phones. But Ryouhei would rather his phone not be on that list. The number of calls that he gets and from who isn't anything to be brought to light.

Not with his stepmom's history. Bringing those things to light will do no one any good. Tokyo would lose one of its best assets and the people in the underground would be free to do as they please. He knows better than to question half of the massages on his text history.

Sending all weirder ones to his stepmom, the things that look like lab reports to his mom. The rest have threats in them, he goes over quickly and deletes them. Lets his phone delete the whole text, number, and evidence the texts even existed. He deletes the ones he sends to his moms too, after his certain they got them. The two-minute-rule they agreed to always comes in handy.

Ryhouei signs out of that text history and turns to the ones that actually make freaking sounds he gets them.

**Ice Cream: Meet you in 20**

He scoffs, shoving his sweaty uniform in his bag along with his phone. Taking a shower seems like a relatively good idea. Half of the rest of Seishou is looking at him like he's an alien when he comes out with his hair tied.

Seeing no reason to hang around any longer, Ryouhei picks up his bag and leaves. There's only one new text on his phone when he looks. Growling under his breath, Ryouhei turns away from the exit, because his stupid step-cousin can't fucking wait outside like a normal fucking person.

He glances as short, strawberry-blonde walks from the other side of the hallway into the one that his step-cousin told him to meet them. There's an instant buzz in the air that signalizes his step-cousin's presence and annoyance. While it's for a short half a second, Ryouhei sees the light in the hallway flicker.

It's a pretty secluded part of the stadium, he notes while leaning against the wall. It wouldn't surprise him if Lin chose this one just to be out of earshot of almost anyone. 'People in our family always need to be two steps ahead' is what his stepmom says. And she's always two steps ahead of whoever she's hunting. From bounty hunter to the chief of the prefecture police.

Taking a deep breath, he _tries_. Tries to enhance his hearing, but not enough to give himself hyperacusis. He's done that once and his stepmom had to talk him through the whole process while he was screaming at her to shut up. Not one of his brightest moments for sure. But not one of his stupidest either. He always rushed during training.

Controlling one's body sounds easier than it is. Ryouhei's body didn't take that well to it, not like his stepbrother's or step-cousin's. And it took a meticulous amount of focus to do anything with it that didn't damage it. So, he slowly works through his auditory system, enhancing it.

The electric buzzing almost splits his head open for a second. It stops after Ryouhei covers his ears, trying to breathe through the pain for a second. <Freaking manipulative...> Of fucking course his stupid step-cousin knows he's there.

" _Yes_?"

Ryouhei's borderline wheezing into his palms. He can't remember the last time his step-cousin sounded so cold and defensive. Passive too.

" _Anything I can do for you? Or is there something you want...?_ "

" _Mikado Anna_ ," the strawberry-blonde spits out, sounding huffy but somehow very composed. That makes no sense and she somehow did that. " _That's my name. And yes there is something I want_."

Blinking, he wonders just how much gut it would take for anyone to talk to his step-cousin like that. His stupid older stepbrother still runs out of the freaking kitchen when he sees them walking in, in the morning.

" _Sakuma Rin_ ," his step-cousin sighs. " _So? What_ do _you want?_ "

" _To talk to you, of course_ ," the other talks almost too fast.

He wonders if this person knows of his step-cousin's habit of walking away from people that they don't find interesting. Or generally seem indecisive.

" _About what, might I ask? Mikado-san_ ," Ryouhei shivered a bit, his step-cousin being formal was like hearing his stepmom curse. Unnatural.

The person - Mikado - sighs. " _We were dating until a month -_ "

Now he's confused. If they dated, why did they act like they just met? Did something happen?

Ryouhei hears the girl getting cut off and then a smacking sound that has him wincing a bit. Then his step-cousin laughs. Mikado spits out something that he can't understand but it kinda sounds Greek. His step-cousin just laughs again, far more gleeful.

" _So..._ " and his step-cousin is back to normal by how coy and smug they sound. " _Teasing me all the time is completely fine, but I can't take your first kiss, A~nna~chan~?_ "

Ryouhei is disturbed by the image of his step-cousin kissing Mikado that pops in his head. And he can see them smirking, probably with a handprint on their face to boot. Mikado scoffs and Ryouhei can practically see their offended look.

" _Transfer out of Outei_ ," Mikado squeals

The hallway falls silent for a couple of seconds and Ryouhei feels something akin to anxiety build up. He's been trying to get his stupid step-cousin to move out of Outei since they freaking transferred there. Then they burst in half-crazed laugher while Mikado huffs.

" _I'll think about it, Anna-chan._ "

Ryouhei half squeals while Lin throws an arm around his shoulders. Before his step-cousin can talk, he shuts down his enhanced hearing. "You'll leave?" he spats, vehemence hiding curiosity. "I don't think you can do that."

Lin throws their head back, chuckling. "If there's a will there's a way, my dear cousin," they smirk up at him, making Ryouhei narrow his eyes. "I have a will. But I won't just yet."

"Why?"

They shrug. "Why did you go specifically for Inamori?" they ask, smirk falling from their lips. "Because you feel like you have unfinished business. I'll talk about this with Aunty. Don't worry your little head, Ryouhei," the smirk returns, looking smugger. "I know what I'm doing. You just focus on hiding those."

Ryouhei looks at them in confusion while they skip in front of him, hands behind their back. Straightening, he lets a hand fly to his head, only to glare at Lin who simply laughs.

"I hate you," he grits out.

"Love you too, Ryouhei. So? did you like playing with Raimon? You seem to be enjoying it."

Ryouhei scoffs, crossing his arms. "Like Hell, they're weaklings."

"Yet you still went all out," Lin points out, smiling at him.

He doesn't deny that. Because it is true. He did go all out against a no-body team from nowhere. And all because of that infuriating forward and his loud as fuck birds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lin: Well! *claps hands* This was a fucking shit-show.  
> Yukine: *pokes them* Nah, be positive, Lina.  
> Lin: I am positively pessimistic, Songbird. You do it this time. *holds Yukine by the shoulders*  
> Yukine: *blushes* Um. What-What did I 'ave ta say?  
> Lin: *raises eyebrow*  
> Yukine: Hope ya-hope ya enjoyed this chap. It's um... Um, Lina? A bit of help? *trembling*  
> Lin: We hope you enjoyed reading this chapter about moy. And Yuuma-chan and Ryouhei, but you know, details. Anyway, please leave kudos and comment at the end of the chapter if you enjoyed it. Songbird?  
> Yukine: *blushing* Um. It-It helps Anitzei know 'ey're supported.


	9. Semper liber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Always free to do as one wishes."

He ignores Masaki's squeal of protests as Yukine puts the boy on his shoulders. "Ya're too light," he comments, getting a secured grip behind the kid's knees.

"I'm not that light, Yukine-san!" Masaki protests vehemently from above him but seems to accept his situation.

Yukine would appreciate that if Kou isn't cackling into his hand. "Shuddup," with an eye roll, he sticks his foot out, attempting to trip the goalkeeper.

The taller idiot smiles at him, side-stepping his foot. "You remember what Okaa-san wanted?" the innocent look in Kou's eyes made him want to punch the goalie in the face to wipe it off.

"Ya idiot," he settles for snapping.

The Genda shrugs, easily keeping up with Yukine's lazy strides. He finds it amusing that Kou won't even try to deny it. Vaguely, he wonders just how many times the goalie got called an idiot. Not that there isn't proof of it, Kou's grades, and the fact that he got held back a year for them certainly helped. Yukine hates judging people on how well they do things on a paper

Grades are just that. Grades. They shouldn't define who you are as a person. That's stupid. That is incredibly stupid and Yukine can still remember finding some dude picking on Lina for getting the lowest grade in the whole freaking school. Once and all of Lina's other - top of the year - grades are forgotten.

Yukine remembers the satisfaction he took from the loud crack that signaled he broke the dude's nose.

"Yuki," Kou's surprisingly sharp tone snapped him out of his spiral. He was spiraling...

He half-heartedly throws a crooked smile at the goalie, loosening the grip he had on Masaki's knees a bit. The boy on his shoulders didn't seem to have noticed it, Yukine notes while glancing up at him.

Making a point to stare at the sidewalk and not at Kou's concerned grey-blue eyes. Because Yukine didn't fall on in love with them, that's whatever lingering feeling he got from Lina. And Yukine didn't want to deal with the tidal wave on a good day. Today isn't a good day.

"Momoirobara," he mumbles loud enough for the goalie to hear. "Genda-san likes them."

Mi-Rae always liked getting pink roses for Genda-san. Having dinner with the Genda family usually means Yukine has to spend an hour looking through Inazuma Town until he finds the shop. Unfortunately, he doesn't have an hour because Mi-Rae didn't actually tell them about this. And running to Genda's compound then at Teikoku Gakuen to pull Kou out of his practice with the promise of kicking his behind.

Which he probably won't do, because Yukine's a bit of a coward. He'll probably ask Terumi-chan to help Kou...

He almost stops dead in his tracks though. Overthinking is Lina's thing, it's a thing that doesn't happen unless Lina's near. Lina's not near.

~<>~

_On the other side of the mirror, Lin glances out the window. Head on their palm, they're wondering why they actually went through with going to Liocott._

_It's unlikely Sein wanted something. The bloody angel has a fucking phone with their number on it._

_Kleos sits opposite to them, vigilantly looking around for threats Lin might have missed. He looks stressed for some reason._

~<>~

It's not normal. It's not supposed to be normal.

Not normal.

N̴̬̍ö̸͔t̴̘̆ ̶͍̈ṇ̸͐o̵̭̿r̴̼̉m̸̖̽ą̴̑l̶̻͐.̴̺̓

U̵̦͕̥̗̥̞̗̱̹͚̲̺̯̯̝͈͂n̵̨̺̪͍͇͇͉̰͒̏͠n̶̢̪̺̩̼͈̯͐̎̀̊͘ä̸̛͔͍̻̖̭̗̤̣͚̙͉̯͖̪̮̬̙̬́̈́̒͑͒̓͒̂̽̕̕ͅt̵̡̼̰̠̲̂̍͋̆̽̽̇̓̐̿̌͜͝͝ͅu̷̡̨̻͉̺͎͋͋͒͜ͅͅŗ̸̨̡̟̤̱̬̖͙̼̻̺̥̩͈͖̃̽̅̆͒͊ͅǎ̴̧͚̭̹̟̬̱͖͈̜͙͖͈͘͜ͅl̴̢͍̼̜̦͋͆̒̄̔́̕͠

"ֆռǟք օʊȶ օʄ ɨȶ!" Eir's distorted voice snaps him out of it, it's not the same haughty tone. But rather the one that is filled with the magic of ancient times long forgotten.

Yukine gives a tiny nod.

Something soft brushes against the bandages on his left leg. He figures Akimitsu might be trying to comfort him by the distorted snarling in his ears. Eir never leaves her corner in Yukine's mind. Vaguely, he wonders when was the last time Eir actually took a physical or spiritual form.

"So..." Masaki's tiny voice grumbles from above him.

"Yeah?" Kou sounds amused by something and Yukine wonders if the boy on his shoulders is pouting. Probably.

Yukine yawns, letting go of one of Masaki's feet to cover his mouth. "Why go all the way _here_ for some flowers?" He'd admit that's a valid point if they were talking about any other kind of flower. "I mean," Masaki huffs, "they're just flowers. Isn't there a flower shop across the street from the apartment."

Chuckling quietly, Yukine answers him. "Can' find 'em anywhere but there," he reasons.

To his credit, Kou doesn't comment on that. Kirino-san - the owner of the flower shop they're heading to - is a lovely lady in her late 20s. Yukine thinks that he might be worried about how Ranmaru and Masaki would interact.

Now that he thought about it - or whatever part of his brain that's still Lina - he is certain that Ichirouta isn't getting off for another hour. Does anyone at Teikoku even know that Ichirouta has a job? He highly doubts it.

"ǟաӄաǟʀɖ!" Eir comments, voice distorting over each individual letter, and is followed by a sort of static noise.

<Aren't ya rather talkative...> Yukine sourly notes. The creature doesn't retort and he's thankful for the silence that descends in his mind. Akimitsu brushes against his side again.

By height standards, even when talking about feline guardians, Akimitsu is tall. Kleos was tall too no doubt about that. But at the shoulders, he could only reach somewhere around Kou's abdomen, and around Yukine's chest. Akimitsu easily towered over him.

Though Yukine's only once came face-to-face with Akimitsu, he's not very fond of the fact that the guardian towers over him. All people tower of him, at least spirits are generally not that tall. Lina had a field day with that one.

"Hello," Kou's happy voice makes him instinctively duck to make sure that Masaki doesn't hit his head on the door frame. "We're here for a bouquet of momoirobara for Afuro Mi-Rae-san," the goalie politely smiles at Kirino-san.

The woman waves them off. "Oh, dear. No need to be so polite. Mi-Rae already told me you'll be coming by. Ichirouta-kun is in the back with Ranmaru," the pink-haired shop owner nods towards the back of the store.

Yukine makes a point of putting Masaki back on the ground, while also ignoring the squeal of surprise the boy lets out. Glancing beside him at the soft brush against his side, he sees Kou looking around the flowers.

He walks in the back of the shop while holding Masaki's - very tiny and very smooth (compared to his own at least) - hand. "Heya," he calls out after he finds his voice. Refuses to comment on the fact that the kid jumps a bit at the sound of it.

Ranmaru's pink-haired head peeks out from behind a relatively large Japanese maple bonsai, he figures the boy was trimming it. "Hey, Kuro-san!" the boy happily greets him. "What are you looking for?"

Shrugging, Yukine taps the petals of an orchid. "Momoirobara, Ranmaru," he gives the boy a slight smile.

"You look like a girl," he also promptly facepalms when Masaki points at the pink-haired boy.

"What?!" Ranmaru screeches sharply, cheeks huffed out in anger, and face flushed. "Say that again, brat! I dare you!" the pink-haired's fists tremble at his sides.

Yukine groans in misery when Masaki shrieks back at him. "You look like a girl! You sound like one too!" he adds.

A vicious snarl is the only warning the son of the shop owner gives before pouncing on the teal-haired. Yukine blinks while the two wrestle on the ground, he sighs. Reaching down a hand, he easily picks Ranmaru off the ground by the back of his shirt. The boy squeaks in surprise, which he ignores in favor of glancing at the workshop.

He's somewhat thankful that the racket had been loud enough for Ichirouta to hear over the sound of his headphones. Headphones which now rested around his neck. Panicked reddish-brown eyes glance at him for a moment, then at Ranmaru who's still suspended midair by him. And finally at Masaki, who's on the ground.

"Какого черта?" the defender yelps, which gets him very confused looks from the two young boys.

Yukine shrugs, putting Ranmaru back on his feet. "Heya to ya too. Language, Kaze-chin," he scolds somewhat sardonically. "There's kids here."

The now Teikoku defender rolls his eyes, hands on his hips and foot tapping impatiently on the floor. The scowl and the demeanor would be more threatening if not for the bright pink apron he's wearing.

"Kurosaki," Ichirouta kinda greets him back before his eyes shift to the kid. "What were you two doing?"

Ranmaru huffs, pointing at Masaki. "Fighting! Because that brat," pointed glare at the teal-haired, "said I look like a girl! And that I sound like one too!"

"Tsk," Masaki clicks his tongue, looking away. "That's 'cause you do!"

While he'd usually interfere, he doesn't thanks to the look on Ichirouta's face. "Apologise to each other! Both of you!" he orders.

Yukine lazily blinks at the two when they glance at him. "Go on, now," he nods.

Intrigue bubbles up when Masaki apologizes first. He hadn't been expecting that, that's interesting. "I'm sorry for calling you girly," if not for the pout the boy's sporting, then he'd think the boy's lying. "Senpai," he cheekily adds, a smirk curving on his lips.

Ichirouta nods, looking satisfied. Then Yukine remembers that his little brother never had anyone. Not the way Lina had Kou or Aki-chin and Jirou had each other. Though he does remember that there was something with the captain of Sengoku, he can't - for the life of him - remember the specifics of it. But there's the pinning on Jirou and Aki-chin which in this world might escalate beyond pining. And into an actual relationship if they play their cards right. Lina's far better at playing people than Yukine is. But Lina's no master of lying no matter how good she's at telling when a person is lying. Yukine is a master at lying though.

<Focus!>

"I'm sorry I bit you..." Yukine takes a double-take to look at Ranmaru, who's staring at the ground. "And pulled your hair... and punched you in the face."

"What now?" Yukine grits out, eyes wide in bewilderment.

Neither boy responds, both staring at the ground.

"You got the flowers, darling?" Kirino-san's voice makes his throat constrict and cut off any words that he might have intended to say.

He ducks his head down but steals a glance at Ichirouta who's turned paper-white. Looking to his other side, he sees Kou frozen in his tracks. The tiny bonsai in his arms looks like it's Dogwood but Yukine isn't sure and the random thought that Kou looks like a deer in the headlights makes him hungry. And kinda disgust him at the same time.

"I'll be outside..." Kou excuses himself evenly, turning on his heels and walking out.

He doesn't miss the relieved sigh from Ichirouta though and wonders just how tense is his brother during school. "You're still friends with him?"

Yukine gives him an eye roll. "Ya still pinnin' over Jirou?" he bluntly questions, gaze dead even as heat rushes to his cheeks.

"Can we get the flower and go already?" Masaki gives them an exasperated groan.

Ichirouta glances at him for a moment before cracking a smile. "One bouquet of momoirobara coming right up. Ranmaru! Come help me!"

Laughing, Yukine's mind wonders to Touko-chan.

~<>~

The next day, Yukine mourns his sleeping schedule while - slowly and repeatedly - banging his head on the wall behind him. There are twenty more minutes before class starts. In which he's supposed to talk to both Toramaru-chin and Tsukushi...

Thankfully, Toramaru-chin puts him out of farther misery. The tiger boy looks surprised to see him, not that Yukine blames the kid. But he still hurries to meet him, which makes him push away from the wall.

"Heya," he drawls out when the younger is in hearing range. "Need to talk to ya."

Toramaru-chin nods, smiling brightly. "What about, Kuro-senpai?" there's genuine confusion in the boy's voice.

"Try out for the soccer club with me," he mutters loud enough for the younger to hear him. "ll talk to Tsukushi over -"

Getting tackled in a hug makes him immediately stiff up. "Yes! Today?" determination shines in the tiger's green eyes.

Nodding, Yukine gently pulls out of the hug, stance relaxing. "See ya after school then, Toramaru-chin," he throws a smile over his shoulder, for which he gets a bright smile and a wave.

Once he's turned the corner, Yukine exhales heavily. Any and all encounters between him and Toramaru-chin had been awkward. Even after Yukine started working at the restaurant part-time. And he had no idea why but staying around the younger never got any easier remember _his_ Toramaru-chin. He's somewhat thankful for how awkward it got and how quickly they stayed on point.

 _His_ Toramaru-chin would fuss over him. This one doesn't and Yukine's kinda ~~sad~~ happy about it.

He's sitting in his desk at the back of the class, playing some stupid game on his phone when Tsukushi walks into the classroom. Happily chatting with a tall, wavy-haired boy who looks vaguely familiar. Yukine takes a moment to recognize him as Michinari Tatsumi, the captain of Raimon's new team. <Even better.>

Sluggishly, Yukine pushes out of his seat, and the class shuts up and all heads turn to him. <I hate my life> he mentally whines. Yes, he's awake, not that big of a miracle. But, then again, anyone in school has only seen him awake during lunch and when he's leaving school.

"Kuro!" the shorter happily greets him before pouncing on Yukine for a hug. He'll admit to no one that he leans a bit against her, feeling more relaxed than the awkward hug with Toramaru-chin. "You're up!" Tsukushi cheers.

Yukine nods in the girl's shoulder. "Yeah. Wanna talk to ya," pulling away but still keeping Tsukushi in arm's range, he looks at Michinari, "and ya," he announces.

The captain blinks a couple of times, looking confused. "About what?"

In front of him, Tsukushi tilts her head, eyes blinking innocently at him. Yukine takes a precaution and covers his ears first. "I wanna join the soccer club with a friend."

With his ears covered, Yukine doesn't take the blunt force of Tsukushi's - very loud and very high pitched - squeal. Michinari and the rest of the class does. He can't really find it in himself to pity them. Not with the number of times he felt it.

The bone-crushing hug he's pulled in makes him hear one of his spinal bones crack. "Kuro! You're serious?" the happiness fades into something slightly wary. "Like, absolutely sure you want to?

Yukine is kinda thankful for the Lina part of his brain revealing the worry underneath the obvious wariness. He'd have never looked beneath that. It's enough to look at the surface most of the time.

He nods softly. "Always free to do what I wanna do," he glances at Michinari. "That okay with ya? The other guy's a first-year," he adds.

The captain nods, smiling gently. "Sure. We'll have to talk to Coach though."

He wonders why Michinari looks slightly disgruntled by that statement. Noting that his eyelids started becoming heavier, Yukine smiles. "Ta. Hope we can play," he turns on his heel, walking back to his desk. "Wake me up when ya need me," yawning.

He takes his time pulling out his headphones - which really are Terumi-chan's but the guy has three more pairs and Yukine got them as Christmas presents, so there's enough to go around. The playlists on his MP3 player are weird. Most labeled with 'Running' or 'Sleep'. Though it's Wednesday so he picks the playlist for today. Plugging in the headphones, Yukine hits 'play'.

Letting the music lull him to sleep, it's a pain in the ass to feel Tsukushi remove his headphones. And then blast that infernal alarm in his ear without warning. He mentally mourns his sleeping, again while getting up from his seat.

"'morning," he grumbles, clearly unhappy.

Too bad Tsukushi is brilliant at ignoring that. "Good morning, Kuro!" the girl happily greets him, grabbing his lunch - and by extension hers - in one hand, clutching his hand in her other one. Yukine lets himself get pulled out, but takes the lunch box from Tsukushi and carries it. "We're having lunch with Captain and Mansaku," she shrugs, walking through the crowd. "Everyone decided to practice during the break."

Tilting his head, Yukine lances their fingers together and glowers at everyone out of the corner of his eye. "Shouldn' they be restin'? It ain' healthy to push," he comments, movements still sluggish while in the sleep-wake state he's in. "We meetin' 'em, where?"

Tsukushi grins at him. "Rooftop!"

Yukine squeezes the girl's hand a bit. "Not really likin' this," he offers. "Not big on heights, 'member?" he adds, uncomfortable.

The grin falls for a second before returning. Yukine manages a crooked smile back while letting his friend drag him up the stairs. He makes a point of looking only at his feet before dropping down somewhere in the shade.

He lets Tsukushi excitedly greet the two other people on the rooftop. When their gazes shifted to him, Yukine ignores it, shoving a cauliflower in his mouth. Butter fried. "Kurosaki Yukine," he introduces himself quietly, but still loud enough for the two to hear him.

"Michinari Tatsumi and this Mansaku Yuuichirou."

Yukine mutely nods, wanting to just curl up in a ball and curl into himself until he faded out of this world and into the spirit world. "Pleasure," he mumbles stabbing some poor fried fish.

"Captain said you want to join the team," <God I hate people...> Mansaku seems to have some need to strike up a conversation while Tsukushi eats with him. "What position do you play?"

"Anythin'," Yukine answers, "don' like forward, though," he adds. "And it's Coach's decision, ain' it?"

Mansaku looks sour for some reason. "You'll be fine," Michinari comforts him. He doesn't need it but silently appreciates it. "Ootani's been talking nonstop about you and your skills."

Yukine stuffs a baby carrot in his mouth while Tsukushi blushes. "That is not true," she denies. "They're making it up."

A part of him immediately takes advantage. "Liar~" he sings, a teasing grin on his face before he stuffs a takoyaki ball in his mouth. "Didn' know ya know how to lie."

"You're awful," the brunette points her chopsticks at him. "But I love your food so I'll let it pass."

"Ya love me," he snaps lightly.

Tsukushi smiles. "Maybe I do."

Yukine chokes on the poor baby carrot he just stuffed in his mouth. Yukine dug that hole, didn't he?

~<>~

Kirina's eyes narrow slightly while he frowns. He doesn't really get cautious easily, but this is a caution-worthy situation in his book. And something at the back of his mind tells him to cool it or he'd go feral on everyone.

He listens and quiets down.

It started out normal. The coach was later, again. Captain and Mansaku walk in with Ootani-san happily skipping after them humming a tune. Nothing weird there. Kirina knows that the three had lunch together with one of Captain's classmates.

He doesn't expect two other people to walk in after them. One's got short, dark-blue hair and dark green eyes. The boy seems to be a first-year if Kirina's right, slightly taller than the other person, but slightly more slender. A runner, maybe a forward if he plays soccer.

The other one is more interesting for some reason. Dull red eyes analyzing everything lazily while the person's stance is more relaxed than anyone's. Brown hair cut in a sort of very short pixie undercut with a high fade. And the person looks very much relatively like a mummy too. Though to the fact that the person's gakuran is tied along their middle, the white dress shirt shows every bandage on the person.

' _That's a guy_ ,' a part of his brain chides in helpfully.

<You sure?> Kirina sounds unsure.

' _Yes, idiot_.'

As usual, Kirina follows his instincts. Which tells him that he's both safe and in a room with an apex predator. Kind of contradictory but he'll take it. Now that he thought about it, he's seen the brunet around after school. But never once during the breaks. Usually, he's engrossed in a book.

Though... for some reason, Kirina feels like he's seen the brunet somewhere else too. And not recently either. Something about him screams familiar for some reason. Sneaking a glance at Asuto, Kirina is relieved to see that his best friend's close by. Mansaku's standing too close to the two unknown people to be safe for the moment.

His barely-there frown deepens when Ootani-san stands between the two and puts a hand on their shoulders. "This is Kurosaki Yukine," she first introduces the brunet, who nods curtly. "And this is Utsunomiya Toramaru. They both want to join the club," the smile on Ootani-san's lips makes him straighten. "Kuro is in the same class as me and Michinari-kun, while Utsunomiya is a first-year. Try and play nice okay?"

There's silence before Kirina figures out where he's heard the name 'Kurosaki Yukine' before. The brunet had a reputation and not the good kind. He wonders if Kurosaki-senpai can even play soccer but Ootani-san seems very convinced.

' _Call him Yukine_ ,' the voice suggests.

Kirina frowns a bit to himself. <Why?>

' _Because he doesn't like his last name, duh_.'

<How exactly would you know that?>

' _Because you do, moron_ ,'

That raises a lot more questions. Though the voice proves to be right pretty easily.

Norika confidently walks up to ~~Kurosaki-senpai~~ Yukine-senpai. The brunet tilts his head when their goalkeeper holds out a hand. "Hello! My name's Umihara Norika. You can call me Norika, Kurosaki-san."

"Pleasure," Yukine-senpai gives Norika a smile, though the look on their face makes them seem close to falling asleep "No need to call me by my last name. Shorten it or jus' call me Yukine," he advises while shaking Norika's hand.

Ootani-san is the only one to find it funny. Kirina notices that everyone's staring at Yukine-senpai in shocked. "He's a gentleman," the manager reasons.

Kirina walks up to Utsunomiya noticing that the boy seems to be very out of place. "My name is Hiura Kirina," he shyly introduces himself.

The younger boy beams at him. "Utsunomiya Toramaru! I hope we can play together!"

Kirina nods while his teammates slowly start introducing themselves. He retreats to the front of the clubroom and sits in his chair. Throwing a look over his shoulder after getting the feeling that he's being watched, purple meets dull red.

Yukine-senpai nods at him, smiling just a bit.

And Kirina's head starts pounding so he looks away. From the pounding, it goes blank for a moment. His vision swims and he thanks whatever instinct overtook him that made him sit down. A slideshow of images passes his mind. Everything is too hazy to properly make out, and everything is buzzing too much for him to make out sounds or words.

"Coach!" Asuto's sharp voice shocks Kirina out of his very fuzzy brain.

Kirina's eyes snap to Yukine-senpai, who's eyes are fixed on the chubby man. There's an untrusting glint that replaces the deadness and sleepiness in them. Slowly looking away and to Zhao Jinyun, Kirina takes into consideration that the man might not have heard what's going on. That thought gets thrown out the window when the chubby man looks at Utsunomiya and Yukine-senpai and laughs in that weird way that makes Kirina uneasy.

"You must be Kurosaki-kun and Utsunomiya-kun," the Coach smiles but it's kinda creepy and like the man is plotting something. "Ootani-kun told me about you two," the man turns a bit thoughtful. "Though I would like to test your skills for myself before allowing you on the team."

Yukine-senpai nods. "Now?" Utsunomiya's uncertainty is relatable somewhat. "Or can we get changed first?"

At that, the brunet nods more rapidly. ' _Selective mutism_ ,' the voice in his head provides. <Thank you.>

"Mikado-kun, Ootani-kun, get Kurosaki-kun and Utsunomiya-kun uniforms," Coach orders the managers, a weird smile on his face. "Tell me, what are your positions?"

Utsunomiya goes first as Yukine-senpai trails after Ootani-san. Kirina watches them in suspicion. "I play forward!" the first-year announces.

Ootani-san comes back with Yukine-senpai. "Kuro plays anything but forward, even goalkeeper," Kirina doesn't miss the glace she makes to Norika.

Kirina's pleasantly surprised to find that Utsunomiya is a very good striker. Out of the ten shots he took, Norika was only able to block one. And even that one save was on the borderline. Kozoumaru is quick to make a jab at Goujin-san about loosing the 'ace striker' title to a first-year.

After Coach welcomes Utsunomiya on the team, all of them turn to where Asuto and Yukine-senpai are stretching. Yukine-senpai's test is speed, which doesn't make sense. Not really and kind of does at the same time. Because being able to freely move between the positions is hard and one needs speed if they want to close the distance between defense line and offense.

It's pretty obvious why Coach choose Asuto to make the running test, though. Asuto is the fastest on the team, which makes him uneasy. Is Coach being cautious? Or does he honestly think so highly of Yukine-senpai's speed?

' _Overestimates dear Asuto, of course_ ,' the voice in his head doesn't sound like his own. But rather that of an older woman.

"Alright!" Kirina looks at Captain, who's holding the whistle in one hand. "At 'go', you start dribbling all the field. On your marks... Get set..."

His eyes narrow in suspicion as Yukine-senpai yawns while lazily getting in a running position.

"Go!" Captain's voice is accompanied by the whistle.

While Asuto and Yukine-senpai both started running at the same time, the brunet easily too a rather large lead. And no matter how much speed Asuto tried to put into his running and his dribbling, it wouldn't shorten.

After the 'race' is over, Yukine-senpai doesn't look even remotely bothered by the large running distance. Asuto is panting though. Which makes him wonder just how much stamina the brunet has if that didn't tire him out even a little.

Everyone on the team stands there, some of them with their jaws slacked in shock. Coach laughs - obviously letting it be known that he knows something they don't - while clapping. "As expected of the captain of the track club."

Kirina sees Yukine-senpai jabbing Ootani-san in the stomach. "Former track club captain," the manager corrects while glaring at the brunet.

"Former captain," the chubby man corrects himself. "Welcome to the soccer club, Kurosaki-kun."

The coach proceeds to tell them that they're going outside for today's practice. Glancing at him, Kirina notes that Yukine-senpai looks sleepier than before. The brunet is literally draped on Ootani-san's shoulders while yawning. The third-year detaches himself from the manager and starts walking towards the wrong side of the field.

Ootani-san grabs him and pulls him along. Kirina - by some weird instinct - immediately starts following them. The older player side-glances at him before shrugging and slowing to an acceptable pace.

He gets pulled away from the very one-sided argument that the rest of the team is having about wanting to do offense training by Yukine-senpai. He places Kirina on one side of the field and moves to the other side before making a long pass to him.

The number of times Yukine-senpai stops the exercise and starts explaining in very detailed drawings on the ground gets higher than ten and Kirina stops counting. Probably the fact that he can't snap at him makes him avoid it, but Kirina gets the feeling that Yukine-senpai genuinely likes helping. And the older explains it in different drawings that make him understand the mechanics of long passes just a bit better. He doesn't mind when Kirina stops their exercise to get another explanation.

It's like... Yukine-senpai's dealt with kids younger than him. But also like, he's dealt with Kirina himself somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nosaka: So... there was a slight reference to Lilo & Stitch.  
> Ani-chan: You should stop spending so much time with Lin, Yuuma. I'm worried for your mental health.  
> Nosaka: I'm touched.  
> Yukine: What are ya doin' here?  
> Nosaka: *shrugs* Rin-san is busy and asked me to cover for her. *smiles*  
> Yukine: Ya do the thing then.  
> Nosaka: Thank you for reading this. Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed this chapter it really helps the author. *looks at Yukine* Was that alright?  
> Yukine: *nods* Ya should do this more often.


	10. Ab initio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "From the beginning, Kleos doesn't incarnate at this time. In this world. The cycle stopped, Lina."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two kudos. I'm crying of happiness over here.
> 
> Also, this is kinda going to be the same at the start with its corresponding chapter in Kaminari. Then going to change. Because Lin's going to kinda fuck something up accidentally and ends up in another world. Kind of.
> 
> The second POV is kinda not very well laid out. But I'd rather not go into too much detail over it.

Lin almost slams the door shut in their faces.

"Hey, Lina," Koujirou shivers while raising a hand in greeting.

They're stuck between deciding to slam the door shut, laugh or bang their head on a wall. Though they'll probably decide on the latter. Because it made shit sense that Yuuto didn't come with them and the devil. But rather went to wait for Jirou and Koujirou.

A sharp thorny feeling makes them wince a bit. The image of an island from above pops in their mind. It's familiar but Lin's a bit too far with their head in the clouds to figure it out.

' _Liocott_ ,' the voice chides. ' _Ya wanna go to Liocott?_ '

They ignore it, but kinda understand what it means. Turning to the situation at hand, they spat out, "It's not even freaking raining," they point out while letting the four in the house. "So you did, what? Jumped in a fucking pool?" slamming the door shut, they turn to grin at the three teasingly.

<I guess I do,> Lin indulged the voice for a change.

' _Ya might not come out the same, Lina_ ,' the voice sharply warns.

Koujirou laughs awkwardly while shaking his head, making Lin jump and hiss at him for getting water on them. Despite the fact that it's not raining, these morons somehow got soaked to the fucking bone. Yuuto shrugs while removing his goggles.

"That is not an answer, Kidou Yuuto," they cross their arms, raising an eyebrow to indicate that they're still waiting for an actual answer.

They turn to look at Jirou, who's using one of the towels to dry his hair. Lin will have to thank Aunty and Mitsuko-san for being so thoughtful. "My keys kinda fell in the river."

Blinking, Lin lets their jaw slack before shaking their head. "I don't think I hear you correctly. Did you just fucking say that your keys fell in the fucking river?"

"Yes...?"

"Your fucking _keys_ ," they stress out, "which are supposed to be around your fucking neck? Those ones?"

Their cousin meekly nods. "Yeah!" of course, Koujirou would jump to his defense. "We started looking for them... And Kazemaru slipped and pulled Jirou in the water completely then Jirou kinda dragged me in too... So, we all ended up getting soaked."

Lin nods, unceremonially throwing a towel at Yuuto's head and handing one to Kaze-chan. "Uh-huh," they turn to side-glare at Yuuto, who pointedly looks away from the. "What's your excuse?"

The playmaker shrugs, looking uncaring. "I went to help them. Then Kazemaru pulled me in. Because apparently being the only dry one isn't _fair_."

"If they were all wet," Lin grins. "It really isn't fair that you're the only dry one..." they stop to think for a second. "Actually, that's very fucking childish and you're all morons."

"Can you get any blunter?" Yuuto's tone is rhetoric but they answer positively anyway. Just to spite him.

Throwing a smile of their shoulder, Lin retreats farther into the house. Kaze-chan chuckles in the back of his hand when Lin glances at him. Annoyance creeps up their spine when Kaze-chan straightens himself, hand falling to his side.

' _Why do ya wanna go to Lioccot, Lina_?' the voice asks softly.

Suspicion replaces annoyance and Lin gives no verbal or mental comment. It's strange seeing Yuuto in a uniform that belongs to neither Teikoku nor Raimon. Creepy and scary is the feeling they get when they see Kaze-chan in Teikoku's uniform.

It makes Lin remember _that time_ far too fucking often for their liking.

' _Before ya get depressed_ ,' the voice is sarcastic. ' _How would ya get there_?'

<I got my way.>

' _Ya'll talk to yer uncle, ain'tcha_?'

Kleos cackles a bit at that.

Lin rolls their eyes, scoffing a bit. "I'll get you something clean," they throw over their shoulder before heading up the stairs.

Hurrying up the steps, Lin trips. They curse under their breath while keeping their balance. Lightning pulses through their veins for a moment before settling, Kleos whines a bit from behind them. It makes them wince the slightest bit while the hearing aids buzz for a bit. Nothing but Lin is lightning proof. It's a sad truth they've come to accept a long time ago.

Walking into Jirou's room, Lin lets a little shock zap through their fingers. Pulling their hand closer to their face, they take a moment to visually trace the now. The pale gold rushes through their hands before fading, seemingly slithering underneath their skin. But Lin knows better and feels the electric current in their veins.

On the pitch, Lin's one with some part of their more calculating and instinct-driven part of them. But also one with the storm, one with _Kleos_. Outside of the field, it fucking sucked for the lack of a better explanation. Everything about not playing soccer makes them overheat. And Lin hasn't kicked a fucking soccer in over a year.

Little outlets like punching people in the face at the ring help. They help a lot.

Lin cringes while looking through what is supposed to be Jirou's closet but looks like a tornado went through it. Of course, their cousin couldn't care less about being organized. Even though Lin knows that they've organized Jirou's closet last week. Throwing clothes behind them, Lin takes a bit to find anything that might fit Koujirou. Because despite their cousin using whatever clothes Koujirou forgot as PJ; of course they're at the very fucking back of the closet.

Finding clothes for Yuuto and Kaze-chan is far easier. After all, they all have similar builds. Athletic, lean. Jirou not about an inch taller but still taller than the other two.

Ryouhei gives them a quizzical look when Lin walked by him. They shrugged and gave an off-handed comment about the math exercise that the devil was struggling with.

"I knew that!" he yells after them, and though Lin doesn't turn around, they can tell that Ryouhei is flustered.

"Sure you did!" they shout back.

They fidget with a loose string from Koujirou's t-shirt. Lin will never _not_ find it cute that every member of Teikoku has at least one of Koujirou's t-shirts. They for an instance have three. "They're comfy," they justify. Which is true and everyone agrees.

It's almost ten by the time Aunty and Mitsuko-san get back. And by back, Lin means that one of the agents - an SAT by the look of the heavy armor on her - escorts them back and shuts the door after them. Lin and Ryouhei have trouble containing their laughing to themselves. Kleos had at some point faded into the spirit world.

After an awkward as fuck talk over the phone with Koujirou's brother, Lin managed to convince the older that it's fine. Even if it's the middle of the week. Convincing the bitch that is Kaze-chan's mother - though Lin highly doubts any blood relation - was harder. As was convincing Yuuto's dad. Though the man gave in easier after Lin pulled the 'try to remember that my aunt is a soldier and he's safer here than anywhere else in Japan' card. Which will never not be weird.

Dinner goes by with Koujirou and Jirou talking to Yuuto about Teikoku's soccer club. Lin can see that the fondest in his eyes, now that his goggles are off and left at the entrance. Kaze-chan holds an almost one-sided conversation with Mitsuko-san, though the woman is keeping up with his speed-talking just fine. Lin gathered something about the reinforcement program but they're too stuck in their own head to bother. Aunty spends half of the time questioning Ryouhei about the match. They're generous enough to offer a bit of insight.

Lin cackles in their hand a bit when Aunty points out - from the little information that she managed to pry from them and Ryouhei - that the devil had it out for Raimon's #10. The conversation does a 180 when Aunty suggests that feelings might be involved. Ryouhei gets flustered and loud and Lin can tell that their aunt is enjoying it.

"Oh, look, Mitsuko!" Aunty smirks teasingly. "Ryouhei has a crush."

Lin wonders if someone slipping their aunt something with cherry-flower petals in it. That always did the trick to manage to get their aunt drunk. When it came to alcohol tolerance, both they and Mark took after their father. Their father who got drunk after one sip of anything; doesn't matter how light. Neither their mother, aunt nor uncle got drunk easily. And 'not easily' would be an understatement. Because Lin's seen his aunt and uncle have drinking games a couple of times. All ended with both of them drinking through half of the bar's alcohol and neither drunk.

But give anyone in the family anything with cherry-flower petals and they enter a drunk-like haze.

' _Focus, Lina_ ,' the voice chides. ' _Ya need to convince Arashi-san to let ya meet 'im first_.'

<Fuck off!> Lin mentally snarl, though their face remains impassive while they toy with their food. <I know that.>

' _Sure ya do_.'

Putting down their chopsticks, Lin clears their throat while looking at Aunty. "I need to talk to Uncle," they announce.

' _Great build-up, Lina_.'

<Fuck of...> it has no bite though.

Silence descends on the dinner table and thunder rumbles distantly in their head. Lin sends a shock in their knee and feels the rebound. The chain of events follows.

Kaze-chan stops tapping his foot to stare at them. Koujirou looks like they just said they're going to put down one of the Genda's cats. Jirou has a similar expression on his face. Ryouhei stares at them with wide eyes and tiny-ass horns showing. Yuuto looks awfully uncomfortable. The silence is abruptly cut off by a sudden clatter. Lin's gaze shifts to Mitsuko-san, whose chopsticks had noisily fallen on her plate.

Turning back at Aunty, Lin carefully keeps their face blank. Stealing a short glance at Mitsuko-san, they see the concern in her eyes while she looks at Aunty. All things related to Uncle, Lin must run by Aunty. And they know they're too determined to be held back. Aunty knows it too.

"Why?" Aunty raises an eyebrow, completely impassive.

Lin shrugs. Feels themself raise a wall, lock the door and hide in a dark corner. Feels the need to shrink on themselves, and it's not something that's theirs.

' _Sorry_ ,' the voice seems uncaring while it apologizes. ' _That's me_.'

<The fuck...?>

They get no answer, even while the feeling grows into the desire to have the ground open up beneath them and swallow them. Instead, Lin clicks their tongue while balancing the chair on its hind legs.

"I need the helicopter," they blurt out, in a somewhat controlled fashion.

Ryouhei chokes on his water at that, making Lin roll their eyes. "You need a helicopter? The fuck for?"

"Ryouhei," Aunty calmly bites out, but it's enough to make the devil settle. "Now," blue eyes look back at them and Lin needs to suppress a shiver for some fucking reason. "Do I actually have a saying in this?"

Lin shakes their head. "Not really."

"You need my signature."

They nod.

"Why do you need a helicopter, Lina?" a slightly narrow of the eyes.

"I need to go to Liocott Island," they shrug, getting uncomfortable again.

Aunty shakes her head. "Do I even want to know why?"

"Seeing as even I don't know..." Lin grimaces. "Probably not."

"Do you have a place to stay there?"

Of course, protocol. If child not safe, child isn't going. And if child's not safe that means child might get grounded for thinking of getting into danger.

"Yup," they smile.

' _Ya're a crap liar_ ,' the voice comments.

<Tell me about it,> Lin mentally huffs.

' _I am telling ya about it_.'

~<>~

"This is a _bar_ ," Seijuro grits out, eyes narrowed while they scan the two people in front of him. "Not a place for kids."

Arashi-sama is as scary as usual, that's especially true when the woman is in uniform. Rin looks just air-headed as usual. Seriously, Seijuro wonders what the fuck is wrong with his brother sometimes. Then he remembers that nothing is wrong with him. Because Rin might look like she's with her head in the clouds but everyone should really know better.

"You going to let us in?" sharp teal eyes meet his own, and the half-smirk on Rin's face makes him slightly sick to gut.

Because the blonde doesn't _care_. Doesn't care about anything legal or illegal if it means getting her way. Worse, the girl does care if someone ends up hurt. And hell, even Boss tries to avoid unnecessary casualties. But Rin would go out of her way to get something, take the longest - and riskiest - path and make it to the end.

It made the younger blonde scarier than Arashi-sama. Seijuro nods, leaning in a little bow. The policewoman throws him a glare before turning around and leaving. It's a wonder the woman didn't talk at all.

Rin throws him a smile that's more on the verge of predatorial than anything. "Where's Uncle?" the blonde sits on one of the stalls. "A lemonade with mint please," the smile she sends the bartender holds no menace.

Seijuro shrugs and sits beside her on a stall. "Should be back in five," he answers and the bartender pushes a glass of lemonade to him. "Why are you here anyway?" he toys with the straw for a bit.

The blonde shrugs. "Need to get to Liocott Island."

He manages to not choke at that. Just barely though by the startled reaction Rin has. "Why not take a plane?"

"Because," she nonchalantly raises an eyebrow at him, as though waiting for him to realize something -

Oh. The look on his face must be amusing, because Rin is cackling in her hand for a bit. Seijuro absolutely forgot that there are no airplane lines from Japan to Liocott. Or, there is, but you need about a month of planning and a lot of money to pull through. And Seijuro realized that Rin needs a method to get there. One that is at least semi-legal and could get her there.

"You want a helicopter," he's not asking, just stating.

"Yup," Rin smirks.

Seijuro seriously considers who to call. There are five guys in the bar at the current moment that could pilot a helicopter. Two of them hate Boss' guts but will do as he says. The other three... One is mentally unstable and the other two should be up for the task.

"When do you leave then?"

Yelping, Seijuro manages to remain sited, even while some of his lemonade spills on his hand. "With who?" Rin's nonchalant voice makes him sigh.

"Boss," he grunts while wiping his hand.

Boss laughs while taking a seat on Rin's other side. "Reyes!"

Seijuro bites back a snarl while the woman stalks over. "Yes, boss?" the accented Japanese annoys him. Actually, everything about the fucking woman annoys him. The only thing she got going for her was the fact that she was a fucking amazing pilot.

"You don't know my lovely niece over here, right?" Boss' tone slightly darkens. "Reyes, this is Sakuma Rin. Princess," his tone gets lighter and Seijuro sees the woman's eyes narrow, "this is Reyes. She'll pilot you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rin-sama," Reyes gives a little bow.

There's something venomous in the woman's overly-sweet voice that has Seijuro wanting to reach for a weapon. "Please," the lights flicker for a moment overhead while Rin smiles. "The pleasure's all mine," he easily sees the shiver that goes down Reyes' back. "Oh, and please. Rin is fine. Adding such high honorifics to a brat seems like a waste, right?"

Seijuro takes a bit of pleasure in the way Reyes' jaw clenches.

"Oh, one more thing," Boss speaks up, bringing a glass of - by the looks of it - vodka to his mouth. "Seijuro over here is coming with you."

"Huh...?" they all look at him, though Rin only responds with a quirk of her lips.

"Thanks, Uncle," jumping down from the stall, she heads to the door. "I'll be meeting the two of you in two hours than," she smirks before closing the door after herself.

Boss' voice turns cold. "You're dismissed," he waves at Reyes, who throws Seijuro a glare and leaves. "Keep an eye on her, Sei," red eyes follow the woman while she stalks away.

"Understood, Boss. She won't hurt Rin. I swear on my life."

"Good," the older man seems satisfied. "Because you won't have a life to swear on if something does happen."

Seijuro nods, grip slightly trembling on his glass. Yup. He really didn't miss being reminded why Boss and Arashi-sama got along so well - and so bad at the same time.

~<>~

' _Ever mentioned I hate flyin'_?' the voice whines a bit, even sounding uncomfortable.

<Nope,> Lin smirks while putting on the large headphones. Toying with the microphone, they test it. "This thing's working?"

Sei-san's laugh sounds through the speakers of the headphones. Their hearing aids buzz a bit at that. Lin's not sure what to make of Reyes yet. Sure, they don't trust nor like the woman, but Uncle seemed certain that she's at least a decent pilot. But that doesn't stop Lin from feeling uneasy. Not in the least. Leaning back, they slowly tune in on the helicopter. Making sure that everything is as it's supposed to be. Nothing out of place.

" _Prepare for take-off_ ," Reyes' voice sounds through the speakers.

The take-off is smoother than what Lin's used to. Then again, Lin's experience with helicopters starts and ends with joining Jirou on an SAT raid. Which meant hasty take-offs and not the safest of landings. Not that they minded. It was fun.

When the helicopter's in the air, Lin glances out the window and waves at their uncle. A tiny smirk is on the man's lips while they smirk back. Leaning back into their chair, Lin wonders just what orders Uncle gave Sei-san. It's not like the man's going to answer them anyway, if they ask.

Their stomach curls in on itself for a moment. <I don't get airsick.> with that thought, Lin fixes their body's reactions. Taking off their headphones, they cringe at the sudden pressure. A sudden crackle announces Kleos' presence and they glance over at their guardian. Other than a little ruffled, Kleos looks mostly unharmed. Which is to be expected really.

Looking out the window, Lin's mind wonders. Liocott Island... In this life, they've never stepped foot on the islands. But thanks to Edom, they didn't really have to. And as far as they're aware, Sein has a phone and one that has their number on it too. So... If not Sein, then what the fuck is making them want to go to Liocott.

Kleos seems too lost in his own Goddamn head to actually answer them if they asked. Not that they would. _Mystery_ isn't something that Lin comes across often. Not with their mind. And it feels exhilarating.

Later, after Lin finished waving off a rather worried Sei-san they look at the volcano. And they start walking.

Kleos had whined about being hungry earlier. On one hand, Lin doesn't have money so that means that they need energy. A lot of it by how worn off they already feel. So, not Heaven's Garden because while it is a strong charger, it makes them kinda sick. Meaning that they're heading to Demon's Gate. Not that Lin's particularly happy with that.

Demon's Gate means ancient as fuck magic stone though, so they'll take it. Even with that fucker there. But even so, Lin will take it. Mostly because why wouldn't they? It's not like they've been very antagonistic towards each other in a long time. Not since...

Lin stops. Not since when? They can't remember. They remember being at each other's throats all the time. Even over the phone and over the tiniest subjects. What changed? When did it change? What the fuck...?

<Why can't I remember...?>

Starting to walk again, Lin lets out a deep breath. Around the time of the second FFI, they conclude. That's when they and Desuta started acting civil around each other. There has to be a reason... But Lin can't recall it. And every-fucking-time they try, their head hurts.

Walking to the left, they try to not think too deep into it. Which is weird because their mind is made to look deep into everything. But it seems tired. Lin's not tired, ever. And Lin's mind never gets tired of looking for details in their thoughts and everything around them.

It's far too fucking easy to sneak past the guards of the Gate. Staying out of sight is a bit harder, but by no means impossible. For some reason, Lin feels the need to stay as far away from anyone as possible. Which is kinda weird because they love socializing. A part of them gets sick at the mere thought of talking to people. Which is very fucking weird.

They get lost too. Lina fucking Kruger gets lost. In a place they've been before. Because why not? Nothing's going their way anyhow today. They'll just ride with it. They're good at going with the flow. Better than they are at thinking rationally right now, anyway.

Ducking out of sight of a guard, they find the room they intended to find. Fucking finally.

Then shiver while looking at the ominous purple glowing the large crystal gives. That never happened before. To Lin's, the crystal is just food, kind of. Nothing to be feared in normal circumstances. So why do they feel the need to bolt out of the room and run back into town?

Shrugging off the feeling, Lin stretches on the floor in front of the crystal and puts a foot on it. Relaxes as soon as energy starts traveling up their system. Eyes drifting shut, they dream of dead red eyes.

~<>~

Sein feels the air ripple for a second right before he clocks out. He regrets not paying more heed to it the next day.

"Wake the fuck up!" Desuta's sharp voice shrieks from somewhere while his blanket gets torn out of his hands, making him shiver at the cold morning air. "Wake the fuck up already!"

"I'm up!" Sein yawls at him, sitting up and ignoring the cold. Edom lands on his shoulder, picking at his hair and claws digging into his bare skin. "Don't stress grip me," he orders the ginger falcon, but the raptor doesn't loosen its grip. "What?" he snaps at the demon, only to have a shirt thrown at his face.

"Get the fuck dressed," with that, Desuta stumps out of his chambers, leaving Sein alone with Edom.

Edom thankfully fades in the spirit realm, which lets him put on the shirt. "What is this about?" he demands while walking out of his chambers, barefooted and glaring at Desuta. Who just glares back, though.

"You kinda need to see it to believe it," sighing, he follows the demon while the other stomps out of Heaven's Garden.

Tilting his head, Sein hurries his pace to keep up with the other forward. "I would like an explanation for my utterly rude awaking this morning."

"You'll get one, you fucking impatient wingless chicken!" Desuta snarls at the guards of the Garden, while Sein waves his hand, making both of them move out of the way. "But..."

Sein can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he's seen the demon hesitate. "Whatever it is, I can take it," he nods, looking at the road in front of him and mentally cursing himself for going barefooted.

"It's not you I'm worried about," the demon grits out. "Though you will probably freak out too."

"That does not sound reassuring at all," Sein sighs.

Desuta snorts, shrugging. "Wasn't trying to fucking reassure you, moron. I almost got a heart attack."

They walk in a semi-comfortable silence after that. Sein completely ignores the glares and untrusting looks the guards at the Gate throw him. Though the complete uneasiness that settles around the whole Demon's Gate has him getting even more uneasy.

Shuddering, Sein walks in the room of the dark crystal. "What did you want to-"

"Finally!" a - painfully familiar - voice calls out from somewhere behind the crystal. "It's boring in here and your motherfucking guards wouldn't let me leave!"

A blond head peeks out from behind the crystal, teal eyes shining a somewhat purple-blue.

Desuta growls. "I'll keep you here for as fucking long as I fucking can, bitch."

"Fuck you too, jackass," the person - a very young and strikingly familiar version of Lina - snarls right back, just a bit more playfully. "Hey, angel. miss me?" a toothy grin is sent in Sein's way.

Blinking, he rubs his eyes, wondering if he's still in some kind of fucked up dream. Spoiler alert, he's not. "You are-You're alive," he manages to choke out.

"Why is everyone asking that?" Lina crosses her arms.

Sein shakes his head. "Lina... You didn't fucking exist. You... _don't_ exist in this world. It's-It's not fucking possible..."

"The fuck do you mean I don't exist in this world?"

Gulping, Sein answers. "From the beginning. Kleos doesn't incarnate this time around, Lina. The cycle ended. So, by definition, you shouldn't be here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lin: I'll keep this short 'cuz I'm having a crappy day. Apparently I didn't exist, and now I do. And I'm kinda confused. So, hope you liked this. Please leave kudos and comment if you liked it. Feedback is very important people!


	11. Aqua fortis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Strong water dissolves all but platinum and gold."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to say. This was a pain in the ass to re-write, kinda. Mostly because I've been reading a series and I really liked it, so I kinda wanted to read all of it, which I did. It was freaking amazing.  
> Book series: Guild Codex by Annette Marie (my personal favorite would have to be the Demonized series, though I love Tori as much as Robin, so I'm a bit bias on which one's my favorite.)

Facepalming, Yukine wonders just _why_ did he think this was a good idea. Because it really isn't. Because feeling murdery first thing in the morning isn't good for his health. Not that he'd take the chance anyway. Irina promised that she's not going to bail him out for murder, arson, or theft. That means that he's not allowed to commit homicide. Probably the only reason he Yukine hasn't killed anyone yet.

Oh, and Yurika would probably fly over from Ukraine only to skin him alive for getting thrown into prison.

Maybe he'd pull a Shuuya-chan and hit someone in the head with a hissatsu. Then snarl a half-baked answer about how they're basically being idiots. Not sure what he'd say though. If he was Lina, probably something like, "Get your heads out of your asses and listen to the guy that's supposed to be your fucking coach."

Too freaking bad that Yukine would pass out from a blush before he managed to get the word 'ass' out of his mouth.

Still, Raimon's set on offense, even though Zhao made it clear they're supposed to be focusing on defense. Which makes a lot of sense, because they'd be using Minodouzan's strategy against _them_. Not that anyone seems to notice or think about that. Except maybe Toramaru-chin. And if Yukine's right - or rather, if the part of him that's Lina is right - then Minodouzan is trying to tire out Raimon before going for a counter-attack.

That's like, the first move in the guide book. Tiring out your enemy makes scoring so much easier. He wonders why they have to be so stubborn. Then remembers Michiya-san and lets his head drop on his palm. Yup, they were just as stupid. Though Yukine did have to help Aki-chin clean off a wall, which isn't really that nice.

Deciding that it's pointless, he stops paying attention to the match. Yukine pulls out a slightly faded copy of 'No Longer Human', this one's in English because he's not enough of an idiot to start the on in Bulgarian. Or nearly mentally insane enough to even look at the one in Chinese.

Not really focusing on the words in the book in front of him, Yukine starts thinking.

"Good defense," Toramaru-chin's thoughtful voice makes his rear back. "It could have been better... It's not as good as Tele-" he cuts himself off from his mumble.

And Yukine freezes, grip almost slacking on his book. Not as good as Teles Tolue's The Empire. Not as good as Argentina. Yukine doesn't want them to be either, he's been there once and almost lost. This isn't The Empire.

No matter how good their defense is, they're flawed. Sure, they're _good_. But they aren't stellar or unbreakable, they don't need a solid strategy to get past them. They have a slightly-above-average pressure, but not brilliant control of the ball. Closing his book, Yukine leans back to watch the match, an interest sparked.

Thankfully, Iron Wall doesn't exist. He feels bile rise to his throat at the thought of it probably never existing anyway. Yukine would be an utter idiot to think there's - maybe - about one more powerful defense hissatsu. Though, even that possibility is very slim. Atlantis Guard isn't something he enjoys thinking about. Not since it sent Lina to the hospital.

His lip curls upward when he catches sight of Kirina-chin's nape. Yup, Irina's little - beloved - 'arctic fox' and Yukine's second youngest brother. Irina had asked him to give her some time before breaking the news to Froy or Yurika. Though he's not sure what 'some time' means.

Seeing Inamori lose the ball again, Yukine toys with the idea of using Northern Impact but then smacks himself in the face with his book. <No forwarding...> he growls to himself.

"ɮʊȶ ʏօʊ'ʀɛ ɮɛȶȶɛʀ ǟȶ ǟȶȶǟƈӄɨռɢ ȶɦǟռ ɖɛʄɛռɖɨռɢ," Eir reminds him, annoyingly enough.

<Go away,> Yukine orders and only receives radio-silence, which he takes as a win. Zhao had made his main position 'midfielder' which wouldn't be as bad, except his own impulse to go on the offense. He's going to try and not have too many problems with using combination hissatsu if it means winning. 

He will forever refuse to shoot by himself. He's not going down that road, not again.

Yukine also pushes down what little shame crawls up his throat. Because this is Kabeyama's team and Yukine likes the kid. Still, this was Kageyama that had no reason to creat the Mountain yet. That can be used to their advantage.

"This might get messy..." he is also very thankful for Toramaru-chin voicing things he couldn't. Also, very - very - thankful for the younger's game instinct.

He's enough of a worry-wart to actually think they might lose. Call him overconfident, but it's true. Even without accessing Eir's vision, he can see Inamori's eyes sparkle brightly with determination at the challenge in front of him.

Energy pulses in him while he shoves his book in his bag and takes a gulp of water. It instantly cools him, making him more awake and aware. Though he thinks there's something wrong with that statement because he's been awake since three a.m. and took a total of three pills to ensure that he won't fall asleep.

It's bad. His energy comes from water, but sleep means recharging. And his heartbeat is moderately slow and he likes it that way. It keeps him from physically spiraling into fatigue or anything else. But Sein's heartbeat is almost once a minute and Lina's is over five-thousand on a calm day. Yukine tries to stay in-between without leaning too much on either side.

But the nitroglycerin on his skin calms him too easily and slows down his heartbeat too much. Not that he minds much. It does well with his hypersomnia. He'd almost kill Lina once while trying to wrap a single papercut though. Because apparently, slowing down Lina's heartbeat means having to instantly take the lightning demon to the hospital.

Leaning back in his chair, Yukine fumbles with opening the tablet in his hands. He's not sure what to make of the deal he made with Zhao. Probably shouldn't have agreed, but it also seems like a good idea.

Looking at the pitch, he mutely hums. Inamori makes an easy pass at Goujin, who gives the ball to Michinari. The captain reminds him of Italy's captain... Great, now he wants to see Ardena. 

He's glad that Michinari isn't panicking. Panicked captain equals incapacitated team. Michinari passes the ball to Sasuke -

And Yukine startles in his seat when his phone chimes. Unlocking the hellish device he winces at the message. He can feel Seiya's disappointment and slight - very unnoticeable - annoyance through the text.

**Seiya: you're not playing**

**I'll play in the second half :Yuki**

**Calm down, blondie :Yuki**

Pressing sent, Yukine mutes his phone before shoving it in a hidden pocket of his bag, because he's paranoid like that. Or Lina was. Whichever. Probably the latter, which should be more alarming but kinda isn't.

He heaves a sigh while taking in the physical status of each player. Umihara seems to be doing okay, probably though to being a goalkeeper and all.

**Defense only <3**

After typing, he facepalms. Japanese, not English he reminds himself and writes the message again before hitting send. Looking back at the field, Yukine feels his stomach turn while his _teammates_ stare in frustration at their bands.

"ʏօʊ'ʀɛ ǟ ɮǟɖ քɛʀֆօռ, ɦʊʍǟռ օʄ ʍɨռɛ," Eir's voice doesn't sound as distorted and Yukine wonders if she's in a good mood.

<I don't need you telling me that,> he mentally answers and doesn't get a comeback.

~<>~

_Yukine drinks a whole bottle of water before throwing two on his head. Tsukushi laughs at the weird looks on everyone's faces. Probably surprised. <Why is it so sunny?!> he mentally complains while thinking of just going to find the hose and take a shower in it. It sounds like a very, very good idea.  
_

_"Kurosaki-kun! Be sure to say after practice!"_

_Not looking at the man, Yukine gives a thumbs-up. Grabbing another bottle, he easily downs the water in it. While wiping his mouth, he notices that his bandages are wet. Of course, they are, he threw two bottles of water on himself._

_While unwrapping the bandages, Yukine cringes as sunlight directly hits his left side. Making quick work, he easily re-wraps his arm and leg, albeit slightly clumsily and almost cutting off circulation in his arm. Wrapping his right hand is slightly harder._

_Looking to the side, Yukine's eyes land on Zhao Jinyun._

_He didn't exactly trust the man. He barely started trusting Michiya-san after getting past the Asian Preliminaries. Ane-san had been easier to trust. Not that he spent too much time under her coaching, about two matches, really. But, Zhao's coaching style is strikingly similar to theirs. Half-assed, strange orders that seem to be meant to aggravate the players._

_Thankfully, unlike the rest, he's used to obeying those._

_Not that he didn't use Orion's database to dig things up on the man. He did. Though he took it upon himself to create a Lina-approved safe chat with Takuma-san and asked the man about his coach. More interesting things came out of that conversation._

_One, Zhao graduated from Stanford University as valedictorian. Two, he was a kung-fu instructor for three years after that. Three, the same amount of years in the army. Became a baseball player for another three years. Then a soccer player for one._

_Then, about ten years back, Zhao got thrown out of Orion by Irina. Not even Takuma-san had been able to clear the details._

_Between then and now, Zhao Jinyun had been a coach for both China's Ro_ _jiura Shounentai and Shanghai Hoshi_ _nekodan. He thoroughly researched the two teams._

_Yukine smiles while waving off Tsukushi, typing on his phone that he'll catch a ride with a friend. He does message Mi-Rae to have someone pick him up. And promptly mutely snarls at the answer. After mentally whining about it for a full half a minute, Yukine finally translates the text as 'someone will be there in twenty'. Why can't the woman just write in Japanese? Or in English?_

_Mansaku and Michinari had to be dragged out of the clubroom, by Kirina-chin and Inamori respectively. Even if the little foxy pouts while he does so. Goujin glares at him though. After the doors close, Yukine turns on his heels to look at Zhao._

_He's bad at being an actual human being. Which is ironic as something given his role in his Triad. But, yeah, he's bad at it. Seeing through facades, lies, and deceit? He's brilliant at that. So, he can easily tell a bluff, a lie, or any form of deceit thanks to Eir's power. Thanks to being Eir's host._

_It's got some perks too, thank the Gods._

_Zhao had dropped the 'laughing idiot' facade as soon as the door closed. He blinks slowly, eyes trailing to the short, green-haired kid beside him. Walking up to them, Yukine easily searches up the license he was looking for on the laptop. Turning the screen he points at the kid then at the boy on the license._

_"Wasn't expecting that," the boy mumbles._

_Yukine gives a one-shoulder shrug. Opening the notes on the computer, he types_ 'I get that often. I wanted to know more about coach; came across his teams in China.' _._

_He mostly just wanted to find out more about Zhao, finding interesting players is a complete bonus._

_'What do you want, Coach?' he types again before looking at the man. Yukine will admit to only himself to having stayed up a whole night looking at the match between Zhao's teams. Multiple times. With sound concealing headphones blasting in his head too._

_It's weird how formal Yukine is while writing or texting. Probably has something to do with Bernard insisting to actually understand what he's writing._

_Zhao laughs weirdly, wherever it's at him or in general, Yukine's not sure. "_ _You'll be in charge of sending messages to the team during the matches, while you're on the bench."_

_He takes exactly one minute to think it over before nodding._

~<>~

Then came the question in regard to his loyalty to Orion, which is shifty and only there when Yukine needed something.

Minodouzan's #3 uses a hissatsu called 'Franken-shu-tein' which is actually kinda funny. Not that he's surprised that Minodouzan has hissatsu, of course, they'd have some. It would be utterly stupid to go in a match without knowing any.

Oh, wait.

Yukine's nose scrunches up as the palm of the zombie-like illusion slams on the ground. Right in front of Inamori, almost turning him into a puddle of goo. Raimon loses the ball. He wonders if Inamori got stuck in a fear-daze to not have dodged that. Probably, because he's certain that the kid is fast enough.

He's glad to have Eir blocking her vision out of his head. Otherwise, he'd not be going to school - or even leave the apartment - for a week because he'd need to rest his eyes.

Not to say that it's not useful. It's just that the drawbacks are kinda shadowing that.

Subtly, he rubs his chest as it warms up, almost boiling. Not that Yukine doesn't know Eir's boiling his blood in his vein. She does that when he annoys her too much, which apparently isn't very often. Or it is and Eir is brilliant at not showing it.

"Are you okay, senpai?"

He startles turning to Toramaru-chin, there's an odd look of concentration on his face. Yukine immediately nods, lips curled into a smile before turning back to the match. He had absolutely forgotten that Toramaru-chin could freaking smell burning flesh, even if it's on the inside.

Looking up, he catches sight of Goujin getting launched in the sky. Yukine isn't sure why he's going sky-high, but that's not a landing he's looking forward to seeing. Not everyone could always land on their feet, like Lina, nor do most people have Ichirouta's agility. Let alone Shuuya-chan's aerial acrobatic talent and his instincts. In short, it's going to be a very rough landing.

Glancing at the watch in the corner of the tablet, Yukine curses mutely, but his jaw moves only a little.

Three minutes until half-time. Smothering some mix of disappointment and anger, Yukine relaxes into his chair. Raimon lost the ball after Goujin got rocketed and hasn't got it back.

Before, he had an idea of Minodouzan's plan. Now, he's certain that they're wearing Raimon out for an easy goal. Even by one point, a victory is still a victory. At this current time, it's still a turning point. Meaning it might not be as disastrous as the match with Desert Lion.

Not that Yukine remembers much after the first five minutes of being on the field. Apparently, he and Kyle had slammed into each other and ended up kissing. Yukine, of course, had passed out and was unable to play after that. And had spent about ten minutes with the captain after the match, apologizing to each other. Continuously, while the majority of their teams laughed around them. He never heard the end of it from Lina. Or Aki-chin. Hell, even his husband had found it funny. Yukine had defended himself saying that they were on national TV, of course, he'd pass out.

Still, out of his teammates, only Inamori and Goujin could probably bulldozer their way through the fatigue of that scale. Glancing at the tablet, he cringes. Okay, them and Kirina-chin who's already recovered half of his energy. Which would be weird but it's not that hot out. Which is unfortunately suspicious enough to make him turn off the tablet.

Yukine also has zero interest in playing with overly tired players for the next half of the game. Been there, done that, and did it again.

Had the whistle blown a minute later, Yukine would be facepalming right now. He thankfully doesn't have a reason to. Because the status of the players doesn't drop that low.

The score is still 0-0, which is good. If they start listening soon, then they can win. But only then.

Handing out bottles to the players as they file off the field, Yukine attempts to smile a little and gets a slightly bright smile from almost everyone. Almost everyone meaning everyone that isn't Goujin or Sasuke. The former doesn't even look at the bottle while pushing him out of the way. Barely stumbling, Yukine swirls around to glare at the - overly annoying - forward.

"Hey, Zhao Jinyun! When are we gonna attack, huh?!" Goujin's yelling is slightly hysteric, sharp, and bitter mixed with some loathing.

"At this rate, it's going to be a draw," looking over his shoulder, Yukine catches Okuiri-chan's eyes and his glare lessens somewhat.

He turns around, grabs a bottle, and holds it out to Sasuke. "Then everything will over!" passion shines through while he wrenches the bottle from him and Yukine smiles softly. "Let us attack already! Thank you!" then the short forward starts aggressively drinking from the water bottle, making him worry that he might choke.

Excited tweets sound for a moment and Yukine feels the electric buzz of the creatures as Inamori comes to stand beside him. Masaki said they're birds - or something similar - that fly around the forward at lightspeed. He shudders a bit at the electric tingle left from them when one flies around him.

Determination burns like fire in Inamori's eyes. It's very pleasant to look at and Yukine's lips twitch up. It's an expression that's familiar, close to Mamoru's during and before a match. The will to win, to take everything head-on. To face the challenge head-on, pass the obstacle to the goal.

 _"This is the craziest thing I've done in my life!_ _"_

_"Will it work?!"_

_"I got no idea! But I want to try it!"_

"-and play with all our might!"

Yukine blinks, looking at Inamori and realizing he'd miss whatever the younger had been talking about. Like, completely missed it. But he smiles softly anyway because it's probably something good. Worth smiling for.

His smile doesn't completely drop when Zhao answers. Though it does feel a little flat. "Well, in that case, feel free to defend with all your might."

If he could speak, Yukine would be saying something stupid right now. Like really stupid that would get the team riled up, and not in a good way. It's impulsive, but he pulls out his phone and speed-types.

 _'It doesn't matter how much you complain, does it? Coach's orders are above your whining, aren't they?'_ he pushes the phone in Goujin's line of sight, gives him a couple of seconds to read it then snatches it back. _'You'll get too tired to attack when the time is right if you keep this up.'_

Of course, Goujin completely ignores the 'when the time is right' part. And blows a fuse while getting in Yukine's face, which he really doesn't like. Neither does Eir by the white puff of air that Goujin lets out. Yukine narrows his eyes, his stance still open. There's no way the forward could take him, and he could most definitely put him in the hospital.

There's an eleven-inch difference between them. So, Goujin kinda towers over him while he stands in Yukine's personal space, glowering down at him. "Don't you even want to freaking win?! You don't complain about anything this guy," he points at Zhao, not looking away from him, "says! And all he says is the exact opposite of what we need to win!"

Holding Goujin's glare, Yukine doesn't even glance at his phone while he types. Though he does glare back, eyes darkening. _'I do want to win. That's how you're supposed to play this game. By winning.'_

~<>~

Kirina instantly relaxes despite the tension between Yukine-senpai and Goujin-senpai. The temperature drop helps him, immensely. Though he notices his friends' shivers, tiny white clouds coming out every time they breathe. It doesn't bother him that much, the cold feels good... Familiar.

He's certain that if Yukine-senpai spoke, the usual, sleepy drawl would be missing from his words. But he's mostly going by the angry - mute - snarl on his lips. And he shivers a bit, not from cold.

Until now, he sort of thought of Yukine-senpai as nice. But his opinion might be changing dramatically in those words. Kirina practiced with him after all. Now, he figures that Yukine-senpai might not be as nice as he first thought. But rather, might be the scariest person he's met so far.

' _Don't be stupid_ ,' the voice snarls. ' _Like you'd ever be able to be afraid of him_.'

<Why not? He's scary.>

Kirina doesn't get an answer to that.

Still, he finds it a bit weird. Because Yukine-senpai is dwarf next to Goujin-senpai, but somehow is scarier. While he's totally relaxed, Kirina can see the way his jaw clenches. But he doesn't type again, simply hold Goujin-senpai's gaze patiently, even though Yukine-senpai's eyes are darker in color than they were a bit ago. It's almost like he's waiting for Goujin-senpai to talk first.

He does open his mouth but gets cut off.

"Kuro-san is going to be playing in the second half in my place."

The temperature starts steadily rising again, though Kirina does mourn the loss of cold. He turns to Okuiri, along with everyone else. The midfielder is nervously pushing up his glasses.

"We already agreed on it," Okuiri shrugs.

Asuto hurriedly asks him why. Kirina fidgets, trying to think of a reason for Okuiri not to play. Like, sure, Yukine-senpai is a good player, but why put him on the field? And right now to boot? When he just argued with Goujin-senpai? Utsunomiya would be better, he actually gets along with the other players. Other than himself and Okuiri, Yukine-senpai hadn't even attempted to have a conversation with the rest of the team. Though, he'd seen Yukine-senpai talk to Kozoumaru once.

He doesn't listen to Okuiri's reasoning, too caught up in his thoughts for a second. "Hiura-san?" he startles a bit, eyes focusing on Utsunomiya's - worried - face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kirina smiles a bit. "Thanks for the concern, Utsunomiya."

The younger doesn't look convinced in the least but drops it. Kirina follows him with his eyes for a second while the forward goes to sit beside Okuiri. He listens to Utsunomiya's advice about passing to each other. Asuto does too.

He finds that Yukine-senpai being on the field doesn't change the dynamic of the team. At all. Kirina's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Minodouzan starts the second half with the kick-off.

Minodouzan's forward barely touches the ball before Asuto steals it. Blinking in surprise, Kirina glances at the spot Asuto was standing in about half a second before. That's about an at least 10 feet distance.

' _He's pretty fast_ ~' the voice sounds smug, ' _Bet we could outrun him though_.'

<Shut up.>

Look back at Asuto, Kirina is fast enough to catch sight of the momentarily relieved expression on Asuto's face when he touches the ball. It's gone when he passes the ball to Goujin-senpai.

He's glad Asuto listened to Utsunomiya's plan.

Goujin-senpai almost loses the ball before passing to Yukine-senpai. Kirina blinks at the fluid movement the older makes while redirecting the pass to Captain. Like water...

' _He's good, isn't he_?'

Kirina finds himself nodding while watching Captain pass to Kozoumaru, who in turn, gives the ball back to Goujin-senpai. He startles when his wrist band chimes. _'A warning for everyone'_ and it's followed by a multitude of arrows. _'those who don't defend are fired <3 ^w^'_ the rest of the message appears after Goujin-senpai loudly complains about something. Kirina doesn't really hear what he said, so he looks up at the older player. He's not overly surprised to see Goujin-senpai glare at their coach.

Not being close enough, Kirina can't tell what the forward says, but he can tell that he's sneering. Asuto looks startled by what he says and Kirina gets a bit worried.

He almost jumps when he hears a slightly static noise from beside him. Looking to his left, he's surprised to find Yukine-senpai standing beside him, a hand covering his mouth. Kirina half-way wonders if the static sound is a chuckle, that would be kinda weird and kinda cool at the same time. The older midfielder is looking at the two forwards, eyes ever blank.

He has difficulty reading him...

' _Oh, how the mighty have fallen_ ,' the voice mocks. ' _You used to read him soooo well_.'

<I've never met them before...> he can't even convince himself.

' _You don't even believe yourself_ ,' the voice hisses.

Their eleven bands beep again. _'Kurosaki-kun will give the signal for when you can switch to offense <3'_ the message reads.

"Why the heck should we listen to you," Goujin-senpai glares at Yukine-senpai, "or that guy?!"

"Give it up, already!" Kozoumaru snaps while Yukine-senpai starts dragging Kirina into his position. "This way we won't lose any points!"

Glancing to his side, he sees Yukine-senpai's lips stretched into a tiny smile. But that tiny smile is enough to send warning bells ringing in his head. But, then again, almost everything Yukine-senpai does puts him on the alert.

Kirina's mind kinda blurs out the rest of the match if he's honest. Something buzzes in his ears, vision turning hazy, blurry, and even spotty at different points during the second half. He stumbles out of a haze when he receives the ball. He's not sure from whom, though.

Gently, he kicks the ball in the air, directly in front of him. He takes a second to enjoy the cold mist that gathers around him and the ball as he spins. Turning into a solid piece of ice, Kirina kicks it.

The frozen ball passes through a shifting gap in Minodouzan's hissatsu - he's not even going to ask - and lands far enough for Asuto to receive it at the other end of the pitch.

Yukine-senpai ruffles his hair while going back to his spot. Kirina, confused, touches his head while watching the older walk away, bandaged arm reaching to wipe his brows.

The final whistle blows and he looks at the scoreboard.

<2-0... for-for us!> Kirina's brain shuts down for a moment, trying to process that. He doesn't manage to completely do that before stumbling when Asuto and Mansaku both jump on him. He laughs along with them, happy with himself and his team, and their victory.

He cheers along with his best friends while hugging them and letting Mansaku ruffle his and Asuto's hair.

~<>~

"That was a pretty good way to motivate your team."

Yukine huffs while Rho 7 growls a bit at the newcomer. Irina had sent the poor pup from Russian the day before and Yukine took a liking to him. Shrugging, he takes a sip of his tea after pushing down his scarf.

Seiya raises an eyebrow at him. "When did you get a dog?'

"Yesterday," he promptly answers before ordering Rho 7 to keep quiet. "It was, wasn' it?"

"What's it called?"

Yukine shrugs before rolling back his shoulders. "Aqua Fortis."

The flat look from the blond tells him that's not enough. Which he kinda agrees with. Aqua Fortis is a wind hissatsu that kinda falls under the subcategory of water hissatsu. And it's a total word-play on the fact that nitric acid dissolves all but gold and platinum. Yukine will admit to no one to have created a hissatsu specifically to break pass Iron Wall. And even then, it took him ten tries to do just that.

"Strong water," he drawls out. "Latin for strong water. Nitric acid."

Seiya nods, though Yukine's not sure if the point went across. "I thought you weren't going this anymore."

He grimaces behind his scarf while Seiya nudges the fat, forty-something man on the ground with his foot. Yukine can't say he regrets breaking the man's nose, not even while blood coats his knuckle bandages.

"Deserved it," he grumbles. Waitin' for the cops."

Glancing away from the knocked-out man, he finds Seiya looking at him, surprise shimmering in his eyes. "The cops? You called the cops? That's new."

Huffing, he looks away while taking another sip of his tea, which is turning cold. "Kinda had to," he answers. "Fourth time this week," nudging the man on his side, he vaguely gestures at his face. "Bruised, see?"

"You usually know how to get them in line," Seiya notes while kneeling in front of the Rottweiler. "What's his name?"

"17th letter of the Greek alphabet," he shrugs and gets another flat look. "Rho 7," grumbling, he pushes away from the wall he was leaning again, twitching a bit when he shifts his weight on his foot. "An' yeah, usually. Old dudes don' like having brats tell 'em what to do."

Seiya nods, although looking a bit concerned. "What happened to your foot?"

Yukine winces a bit. "Dude got me. 'll be fine in a few days," he waves him off. "How's school?"

"It's good."

He'll believe that when pigs fly. Or, no, he'll believe that when they do it naturally. Because Irina did mutate a pig to grow wings, just because Yurika said that she'd clean her room when pigs fly.

"Whatev'," Yukine shrugs, starting to walk down the alley. "Cops're 'round the corner."

Whistling, he glances down to his right to see Rho 7 paddling after him, slightly wobbly. The pup's legs had to be amputated to save him from a bad case of frostbite. That's how most of their 'normal-ish' animals come into their lives, by getting saved off the streets. Rho 5 and Rho 6 are still in Russia, better than their bionic-legged younger sibling. Not that those two were any better, but Rho 7 got all his legs amputated and replaced with bionic ones, that along with his ears and tail. But those look more convincing and Rho 7 got used to them faster than the legs.

Yawning, Yukine walks out of the tiny market to find Rho 7 curled up against a tiny calico kitten. <Great, Mi-Rae's gonna kill me> Yukine grimaces while taking the kitten and warping it in his scarf. It meows pathetically.

"Don' worry, little dude," he scratches the tiny thing between its bat-like ears. "'m jus' takin' ya home. Ya'll have a home."

He huffs as Rho 7 barks beside him, even while wobbling the pup could easily keep up with Yukine's lazy stride. A cup of hot tea sounds divine right now, as would that book that he's been trying to translate from ancient Greek. Not book per se more like a grimoire wrote by one of Kleos' first incarnations.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and Rho 7 barks at it, holding the pup's leash and the kitten in one hand, Yukine answers the call. "Kurosaki Yukine."

"Hey, Yuki," the smooth - but somewhat weird - accent files through the speaker and Yukine almost blushes, almost. Not that he doesn't feel blood rush to his ears.

"Heya," he quietly greets, albeit a bit hesitantly. "How's the weather over there?"

A laugh. "Like always."

Yukine smiles, hiding his face in his scarf while switching to headphones so he can hold the kitten with both hands. He's certain he looks like a tomato, but he doesn't actually care. A bit too giddy thanks to talking to him, and a bit too busy cursing Ardena for giving the other his number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lin: She's lying. She totally likes Spellbound better because of Zak. Also, in the whole series, Kit is her favorite. Anyway... Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be about moi so look forward to that one too.  
> Yukine: Can yer ego get any bigger?  
> Lin: Nope! Don't forget to leave kudos and comment, authors do need feedback. Also, we apologize to those who the animal treatment offended, but these things happen everywhere. And most people wouldn't care. Don't be like that, help.


	12. Crescit eundo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It grows at it goes so to say."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 kudos. I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

Kleos paddles around his demon while she comes to terms with the new development. And it's new, Kleos isn't sure how to feel about it. One of his wards, a tiny winged fae, filled him in on the situation as soon as she felt his presence.

Apparently, unlike in the world, they come from, Eir killed him. Killed his soul in the spirit world for that matter. Which effectively ended his reincarnation cycle. He's not sure how to feel about that. Kleos' incarnation cycle ended around WW2, which is weird because he can't remember being anywhere near Eir and her human then. But he does remember Eir's cold eyes while he faded.

Kleos can feel them. The deep as fuck bite marks on his neck and lower spine. It's more difficult to walk too.

"So... this is fucked up," his demon comments, sitting on the floor. "I wasn't born at all?"

"Fucking no," Desuta - the far lesser demon than his own - snaps, aura angrily flaring.

Kleos snarls at him, tail lashing from side to side while he crouched, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. And he would. He just needed the word. His demon doesn't exactly tolerate this kind of thing. Thing kind of thing being insulted.

"Kleos, calm," his demon somewhat calmly grumbles, fingers holding her chin. "Any-fucking-way, good to see you."

A bright smile lights up on his demon's face. Kleos feels it. It feels suffocating. Not that he thinks his demon noticed. Happiness. Edom's angel smiles back, caution clouding his aura. Kleos doesn't care much. He doesn't care as Desuta snarls and leaves, slamming the gate after himself. Makes the walls shake a bit though to the force.

Kleos can't bring himself to care right now. So, he doesn't. He fades into the spirit world and starts walking away. The spirits move out of his way for the most part. Kleos doesn't mind much. He does mind the younger ones walking in his way though. Apparently, without him, all the world has been in chaos.

His little ward told him that much though.

No stories of him reached the ears of the youngers one apparently. Kleos crouches then pounces.

He strolls away from the five tigers on the ground less than two minutes later. He must be getting rusty. Or, Kleos is simply very much out of practice when it comes to dealing with other felines.

Kleos easily comes on an edge of the island, the sea breeze ruffles his fur for a second and he stretches on the peak before relaxing on the ground. Lowering his head on his paws, he fades back into the physical world.

Shades of anything other than blue and purple invade Kleos' vision. The spirit world only has those colors, unfortunately. The sea is prettier when you can see shades.

The hair on the back of his neck bristles as almost silent footsteps come closer. Kleos doesn't turn his head. He doesn't need to. He's felt her long ago. The second his demon woke up actually.

"Lightning demon," the sharp voiced person greets curtly.

Kleos snorts, nose scrunched. "Death," he greets back while the woman comes to stand beside him.

He looks up at her. Ebony hair whips in the wind, as does Death's black cloak. "You have no business in this world," Death sneers, arms crossed.

"'Cause I'm dead," Kleos lashes his tail from side to side, brushing the peak.

"Yes."

He rolls over on his back, enjoying the sun. "Not the first time," he softly hisses without malice.

Death scoffs. "That counts for nothing, Kleos," she scowls and the waves crash violently against the peak stone.

"Sure it does," Kleos retorts lazily. "You willed it so my demon would not die."

"I think you mistook me for Moses," Death snaps.

He nods a bit. Maybe he does. But Kleos knows that Moses would have died long before he parted the Red Sea, if not for Death. If the Christian God asked for it, Death would obey. Kleos knows that Death kept Moses alive.

He also knows that his demon at the time would have been drowned if not for Death. Death saved his human and kept her safer than he would have. Not that Kleos holds a grudge against Death for it. Not even a little.

"Hardly," Kleos meows. "So? Anything I can assist the Lady of Death with?"

Death sighs. He only hears it because the wind blows it towards him. "You do not belong here," she grits out hatefully.

Kleos nods. He knows that. Had figured that out from the second his eyes cracked open. "Where is here?" he settles for.

Death indulges him. She always does. "A world similar to the one I send you and Lina Kruger to. But, also very different."

Kleos swipes his paw in the air and rolls back on his belly, ears perked, and tail-tip twitching.

"In this world, Eir has partially succeeded in destroying the balance of the spirit world. Thanks to killing you, there is no 'demon' nor 'evil' scale in Judgment's balance for your Triad. There is no balance in your favor. All the scale is tipped into Edom's direction."

Death stops for a bit, eyes focused on the horizon. Kleos figures that the Lady is talking to one - or more - of her reapers. He never liked any of them. Her reapers. Annoying and had sticks up their asses.

Judgment is a lovely lady in his opinion. And probably only his, but whatever. She governed over everything that has rules. This means that Judgment kinda hates Kleos' demons. Mostly because he bends said rules, then breaks them. She doesn't hate Kleos though. Judgment likes Kleos well enough. No one likes Judgment.

It's kind of against human or animal nature to like the lady that helps decide what happens to you after you die. Kleos never had any business in her path. He was bonded to a soul by the Gods of Greece. That soul would wander the earth, die, then reincarnate as many times as it could. As long as Kleos lives, so does the soul. Meaning that the soul would no be judged by anyone until he died. And he did die. In this world.

"Well," Kleos looks back at Death to see her sneer at the ocean, azure eyes sparkling with anger. "I just found out how you're able to exist here."

Slightly confused, he asks how.

"This," the Lady of Death waves her arms around frantically. "Isn't the world it was twelve hours ago. Nor is it the world you came from. It's both," she snarls, teeth bared.

"Merged world?" Kleos considers.

Death nods, crossing her arms again. "This has never happened before. Everyone is on edge."

'Everyone', Kleos nods his head. Everyone means all the pantheons, deities, titans, creatures of any significance. Anyone with a spot on the council. Kleos hadn't gone anywhere near the council in over two thousand years. No guardians that have Triads do. Those on the council aren't stable enough for those like Kleos to come near them. Too much risk. Instead, they got messages at a safe distance, delivered by their pantheons.

"And? How did _my_ demon," Kleos looks back at the ocean, tail twitching in anxiety, "manage to do that?"

Death scoffs. "Your demon bends the natural rules of the world by existing. The Black Sun stone reacted to her lack of energy and did something," she grits out, hate oozing out of her.

Kleos nods. He understands Death's frustration. Black Sun stones are... difficult to predict and have a mind of their own. Kleos has only dealt with one before the ones in the current age. His demon had bathed in a dark dragon's blood and lost the ability to die for a while. Which had been weird... His demon had lost the ability to see Kleos during that time.

The Black Sun stone had done something to corrupt the dragon and turn it malevolent. With a simple order if Kleos remember right. To kill everything that came close to it. Dragons, by nature - and contrary to some people - are benevolent creatures and good to the bone. Kleos had been friends with a few over the years. It had twisted the dragon beyond the point of return. His demon had taken care of the dragon while he destroyed the stone. The dragon's scales bled into a reddish color as he was freed from the stone's control. It had thanked them for releasing him, then bid the world goodbye.

"There is nothing that can fix this, is there?" Kleos mutters, getting to his paws before sitting on his hind legs.

Death sighs. "I'm afraid not. The extent of the damage caused by the merge is still unknown. A meeting will be called soon," she adds.

"What monument are you going to destroy this time?" Kleos humorlessly asks.

"Amusing," Death dryly mumbles.

"I wasn't attempting to be amusing," he curls his tail over his front paws.

Death indulges him. "I have no idea. And everyone is coming."

"Last time all of you were in the same place, Pompeii sank under a mountain of volcanic ash," Kleos reminds her.

"Tell me about it," she almost - almost - sounds annoyed.

And Kleos is right. He can't remember which exact pantheon had caused the volcano to erupt. Kleos only remembers seeing the sky go dark while the volcano fumed. That was the only time he kinda feared for his life. Because Vesuvius had been forced to awaken by the wrath of deities and entities that don't belong on Earth.

Kleos' demon, Eir's human, and Edom's angel had been in Pompeii during the eruption. It hadn't been a pretty death. At all. And they all agreed on it. Gods from seven pantheons had apologized for it. On their knees. To Kleos' Triad, which they murdered without care. For their Triad or the rest of the humans in the city. Not that Kleos cared back then too much. He had been stupid and slashed the face of a God that refused to apologize. Zeus, of course. The man had a stick up his ass and no intention to get it out.

Now Kleos would laugh every time he sees Zeus' infuriating mug. Because it's no longer scarless as the humans depicted it. But instead, the Greek God is blind in one eye and has four long gashes running from his hairline to his chest.

He's very proud of it.

"So? Whatever else do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Kleos enquires, looking at Death.

"How is she?" Hesitation shines through.

Kleos jumps to his feet and bristles, spine arched, and tail lashing. "What does that have to do with anything?" he snarls, teeth bared.

Death scoffs and doesn't answer, which only makes him want to pounce harder. Makes him want to tear her apart. Kleos knows he could if he really tried. This body of hers anyway. Then the next and the next.

His demon had fallen for Death. Many, many, many years ago for the first time. So many Kleos doubts the current incarnation remembers much. Death had fallen too. For the soul of the demon that so happily greeted Death. Kleos hates to admit that his demon had fallen for Death about 289 times. The Lady of Death gave up pursuing his demon actually. Which he's thankful for.

Akimitsu's human, he likes that one. Not too brash, but doesn't completely play it safe. Kleos likes that. Far better than any of his demon's previous love interests.

"I am merely concerned for her wellbeing," Death's voice cuts through the air and Kleos decides to settle. Somewhat.

"Why?" he snarls, fur bristling again slightly.

Death stares daggers back at him, azure eyes sparkling with power. "Because my job is to make sure people die. I'm not supposed to bring them back to life. Nor prolong their existence. I am concerned for side effects it might have had."

Kleos settles. Completely. He sits back down and licks the back of his front paw thoughtfully. He isn't certain. By both his and her standards, his demon has been lazy. Kleos isn't sure why. Last time she became lazy, the first time she did anything caused the lights in the whole stadium to go dark. And that was after a week of lazy.

So, Kleos worries somewhat.

His demon had collapsed mid-game during a soccer practice that took place after the match with Kaiou. Kaiou lost so badly. 10-0 if Kleos remembers correctly. Unlike the 5-4 for Teikoku in their original world. Eir's human hadn't been there. Kleos' human too he guesses. He's not sure why his demon collapsed back then. Medical terms are a mystery to him. But, it soon became apparent that his demon needs to feed more often. 

He smacks his tail against the ground in irritation. "My demon needs to feed more often," he replies eventually.

"Feed more how?" Death presses. "She's always been ravenous."

Kleos agrees. Greed clouds the demon's mind. As does gluttony and pride. Wrath mixes well with his demon. Sloth and lust are two Kleos' demon stir clear off. His demon easily indulges in feeding off any source of energy she could get her hands on. Pridefully shows off her horns. But never has Kleos though that she could become so ravenous.

Once upon a time, his demon killed an army before it reached its destination. Only at Eir's human's request for protection. The human had needed it. Kleos would agree to that. No armies could have been assembled at such an hour. Not the kind they needed anyway. His demon bathed in the blood of the necromancer's monsters. Kleos had enjoyed it too. Then his demon started siphoning every bit of magic from every corpse until only dust remained.

And Kleos had feared that night. Because while that seemed like the only way to go about it, his demon didn't last a week after that. He remembers Eir's human sobbing on his demon's corpse.

"Indeed," Kleos nods. "But it's different," he tries to put it into words. "Like, my demon would collapse without feeding for more than twelve hours."

Death's eyes narrow. "Maybe..." she considers. "The side effect isn't what I originally thought."

Kleos tilts his head. Listens intently. "And what would it be?"

"Magic makes the world go round," Death offers. "Magic makes everything non-magical work. Everything with a soul."

He nods. Unlike what people think, once things die, they enter the spirit world. Be them animals or plants.

Humans work on ancient magic older than Kleos is. So, he'll never try to understand it. Medical terms are useful. Kleos doesn't care much about those, though. They're pretty useless to him.

But those souls that belong in Triads? They're raw magic in a human body. Too powerful to not be hunted by just about everything in the spirit world. That's why Kleos and the rest of the 'spiritual part' of the Triad exist. For protection mostly. To keep the souls alive. Once a spirit is bonded to a soul, they cannot afford to let them die.

His demon needs to feed to keep up with the amount of magic she loses through even the most mundane of tasks. To recharge means that she needs electricity. Which is easy to be provided in a huge-ass city. But magic? Raw magic like that of the Black Sun stones? That did it ten times better. But his demon had 'eaten' her way through all their jewels in less than a month. Twenty jewels should have meant twenty weeks. Not _two_ weeks.

"Her magic is slipping out of her," Death confirms his thoughts. "She's losing it too quickly, so she needs to replenish."

Kleos considers it. "She loses it too quickly because it's doing something," he doesn't know what. "It feels like healing magic. Except it's thrown in a cauldron with lightning and fire magic."

"It's keeping her alive..." Death mumbles and holds out a hand, a tiny blue flame flickering on her palm. "Like oxygen to a flame. Whatever damage she sustained from both car crashes, neither healed."

He had worried. Kleos had worried it would be something like this. That black mutt had mentioned it. That his demon didn't heal right from the crash. He had denied it at the time. With every - spiritual - fiber of his being, actually.

Kleos knows better. Knows that his demon's heartbeat stutters from its tempo too much when she's low on energy. It takes him a moment to remember when was the last time his demon had been in such medical problems.

He settles on the Black Death. Kleos' demon had been a doctor throughout the whole plague. And had contacted the virus many times. She had survived. Had siphoned the energy from the bacteria that caused it. Killed it then vomited it out. Numerous times.

That took a lot of energy Kleos remembers. Too much. It took his demon too much energy to force out the bacteria. And she stole magic from the already dead corpses of the victims. Which, really should put the death toll with around two thousand more people in it.

"It was manageable when we first arrive," Kleos notes out loud. "It grows worse as she ages. Putting a stop to her aging would have bad consequences," he mentions.

Death nods thoughtfully. "It grows as it goes so to say."

"I suppose. My demon's body is kept together by unstable magic that cannot be recreated by natural means."

'Natural means' would indicate the body self-healing. Constant intake of magic made her safe.

"Will you be alright, Kleos?" Death questions.

"Worried about little old me?" Kleos asks back in amusement.

Death nods.

Kleos' gaze softens while he pushes his head in the Lady's side. "I am. My demon, Edom's angel and Eir's human on the other hand..."

"Time did something to Kurosaki Yukine too," Death tells him. "She remembers. Or she appears to, anyway."

It would hurt Eir's human, Kleos figures. That one had always been more kind-hearted out of them. Soft-spoken and always ready to cower in the face of many things. But also very brave. Brave enough to help many of history's significant figures. Brave enough to stand beside them. Kleos' demon faded into the background while Eir's human aided from the shadows.

Kleos knows that the human is at odds with Eir. Has been since the aquatic spirit went insane and started burning with fury against humanity. That would mean that Eir wouldn't tell her human about Kleos or his demon being here.

It would hurt Eir's human more if they remember. Because his demon didn't deal with the pain well. Not this incarnation, or any other really. And so, his demon wiped their memories of Eir's human, completely.

He tries to remember if Eir's human had been cursed with something. Ever.

They had, he muses. By a Babylonian Goddess to boot. Kleos can't recall with what the Goddess cursed Eir's human... Something about submission towards those of the Sky, the Sea, and the Underworld. Which makes the human meek against divinity. Vulnerable. It also made the human actively seek out positive responses from spirits and deities alike. It's worrisome really.

"That is not so good then," Kleo states, though some worry bleeds through his words.

Death shakes her head. "No, it's not. Your demon could easily shatter her."

Kleos nods in agreement. "Yes, she could."

The curse makes the human weak against negative emotions from those of their Triad. Prompts them into depressive spirals, which is easily hidden by embracing some of Eir's power.

It had only happened once if Kleos is right. Which he is. In Egypt a long time ago. Eir is manipulative and her human had fallen prey to that after his demon turned her back on the human. His demon had died as a result of her own foolishness of taking magic from every reanimated corpse and the human's burning hatred. Kleos to this day isn't sure what was actually his demon's undoing that time. Her own stubbornness or the human's complete and utter hatred towards her.

Among other more... illusion-based powers, Eir is a healer and a grantor of mercy. Her human isn't. Meaning that with enough betrayal-fused hatred, they easily side-stepped that and allowed his demon to sub come to her stupidity. They could side-step the curse and do anything to anyone if the human's heart is in it.

"Try to make sure it doesn't," Death doesn't add it, but Kleos can read the 'please' in there.

"I shall do my best," Kleos somewhat assures her.

Next second, Kleos is once again by himself on the peak. The Lady of Death had souls to reap too after all.

He's thoughts wander back to his demon, Edom's angel and Eir's human. The angel had gone into hiding a thousand years back and no one had heard from him since. Mostly, the angel had traveled the world, from one corner to the other. Stayed away from any and all conflicts. It's no wonder Edom barely recognized him or Eir at that time.

None of it mattered if the human hates his demon's guts. Paranoia always swirls in the human's mind, years of Eir's lies and manipulation twisting away every kindness they might have. Kleos knows that with one look from his demon every sparkle of hope would die, burn, and get thrown out. Replaced by the glacial ice that is Eir's natural protection against hurting.

All people that are in Triads are able to mentally block any emotions. They just need one to turn it into. Eir's human had taken to turning cold, manipulative, and lying. Bad side for his demon is that her ability to tell lies from truths is that it comes from the human. And it didn't work on the human. Because they're the master of lying and deceit.

He found it slightly amusing. How easily the human by-passed any defenses and made themselves seem so vulnerable while they pull people's every string like a puppeteer.

Kleos' demon doesn't fall short on the manipulative side, though. It's just that her predatory nature tends to make people feel like prey. And it wasn't something they could work on. His demon is a predator.

So is Eir's human but everyone is too blinded by the facade of a weak lamb to notice the shark about to leap out of the water for their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lin: So... Not really about me. Mostly. We're somewhat going into mine, Songbird's and Sein's backstories. Just a little dive though.  
> Yukine: B.S. Lina.  
> Lin: Is not! It's true. Just that it's mostly mine and yours.  
> Yukine: Ya think? Death is a concerned ex that cares.  
> Lin: Kleos kinda hates her for it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave kudos and comment questions if you have any. Any author appreciates positive feedback. Or feedback in general really. Just try not to be too rude because people have feelings, okay?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this, hope you enjoyed; please comment and leave kudos if you want. :)


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